A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book

How to take what you don't have and make it work

by Richard L. Weaver II

A reader of my Dec. 8th Saturday Essay blog post entitled, “So you want to write a book?” raised an important question in the “comment” section under the post: “What if I don’t have anything that you’re talking about?” I could have responded with a brief comment: “Then don’t attempt it.” But, the question is both thoughtful and provocative, and it deserves a longer response. After all, everyone has to start somewhere. “A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book" is specifically designed to get you started.

First, do not be intimidated after reading “So you want to write a book?” — the first of the two essays in this series. Sure, there are some very accurate conditions laid out in that essay, but they are suggestions only. They are presented as prerequisites for making the process easier and more comfortable. Remember, there are exceptions to everything, and it may be that you are just such a person. You have the ideas; you just need to write the book.

In addition to intimidation, many beginning writers fear failure. It is a reasonable concern. You are entering a competitive business (writing), and you are competing with experienced writers. What you have, however, no other writers have! You have a unique perspective, an exclusive point of view, and a distinctive way of looking at things that nobody else in the world possesses. Even the way you will put your ideas together and the words you select to express them will be totally idiosyncratic — unmatched by anyone else.

Often the reason beginning writers fear failure is because they set their initial goals too high. They want perfection right out of the starting gate. This is as unreasonable as expecting a beginning cook to prepare a perfect souffl , a beginning pianist to play a perfect concerto, or a beginning sports person to know how to play well without instruction or practice. Be reasonable. When you are wise, sensible, and fair-minded about what you can expect from yourself — and especially from a first project — you will remove much of the pressure and stress.

Let’s say, then, that you have some “great” ideas. I put “great” in quotation marks because we all think we have “great” ideas! One of the purposes of writing, of course, is to get your ideas out there to let others be the judge of “greatness.” We all have biases when it comes to judging our own ideas.

Look at what Joanne “Jo” Murray, better known as J. K. Rowling, faced in writing her first novel, “Harry Potter.” In 1995, separated from her husband, unemployed, living on state benefits, and writing the novel on an old manual typewriter in numerous caf s whenever she could get her daughter, Jessica, to fall asleep, she completed the first book in the series. The reason she wrote in caf s, she said on the TV program, A&E Biography, was because taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep. She then found an agent willing to represent her; however, the book was rejected by the first twelve publishing houses to which it was sent. Can you imagine how those rejections would make you feel?

So where do you start? Buy an old manual typewriter and find some caf s willing to let you type at one of their tables? No, of course not. There are better ways.

By whatever means you choose to use — and a computer would be the best means, providing you can find one to use (local libraries are a great resource) — you must begin by composing an overall organizational scheme. Start broad and narrow as you go along. This can be changed during the process of writing or even after writing is finished. Organizing your ideas can save you time and make your writing more efficient. Few people sit down and write a book from start to finish without an outline. Even experienced writers use them. Outlines help by forcing you to think through the stages of the writing process, create a graphic scheme of your book or project, construct both the main topics and subtopics, and group ideas to prevent duplication and unnecessary repetition. Not having an organizational scheme is like not choosing a guide to lead you through an unknown and unchartered wilderness.

Once you have an overall organizational approach, begin writing your ideas on note cards or on pieces of paper that you will be able to arrange later under each of your topics or subtopics. Put just single ideas on the note cards or pieces of paper or you will have to cut ideas apart to get them organized. Don’t worry about writing things in any order. When you get a thought, write it down — wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. Carry cards or pieces of paper with you. “Great ideas” occur at all times throughout your day and night, and not to write an idea down promptly when it strikes, is to lose that thought. Sometimes an idea will occur to you and just the right words to express that idea will be there at the same time. If not, don’t worry. Capture what you have — you can always hone and polish ideas later. Also, don’t worry at this early stage about transitions or connections between ideas. They can be assembled later. Even grammar and spelling should not be a concern here.

Now you are writing, and the beauty of the process is that some writing prompts more writing. Once your mind is engaged, the subconscious takes over. That is why thoughts occur at all times during the day and night. Your mind cannot be turned off. You must be ready to capture what your mind produces.

At various points now you will want to stop and organize what you have written. This will help you determine where you are and where you need to go. There will be gaps to be filled, topics to be added or dropped, and adjustments to be made. Take the time to carefully examine your notes so you don’t waste valuable time writing about ideas already developed.

Don’t ever think of the writing process as ending. It should continue right up to the time of publication. It may mean polishing, further development, or clarification. Take the time to make it right.

Only when the gaps are filled, the organization looks tight, the ideas are bound together in a cogent, cohesive, well-constructed narrative, and spelling and grammar problems are solved, are you ready to have the entire manuscript typed. Once typed, it will require careful proofreading and further changes. Nothing looks the same piecemeal as it does in a coherent package. Have objective people not tied to you read the manuscript to detect any problems. Correct the problems, and have an error-free electronic manuscript typed.

When you really want to write, you will find the time. Now that you understand the process, you will realize that you can do it, and you will succeed. So, you want to write a book? Now, you can! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The best resource I’ve discovered online for beginning writers is the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Here, you can get information on the writing process (creating a thesis, developing an outline, starting the writing process, writer’s block, writer’s anxiety), grammar and mechanics, and creative writing. The beauty of this website is that all the information is free.




Contact Richard L. Weaver II

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And Then Some: Essays to Entertain, Motivate, & Inspire - Book 1

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