One of the most frequent questions I’m asked as an editor and book coach is: how do you start writing a book? It’s an excellent question! My desire here is for aspiring authors to know there are great tools for drafting your first book.
How do you make the most of your writing time? What do you focus on so that you can stay the course?
Folks often ask me how to both write a book as well as how to get it published, often not understanding that these are separate activities. Getting fixated on the end goal can sometimes ruin the bright, shiny-new ideas brimming for your awaiting draft, particularly when you’re in drafting phase, which is precisely where you want to be—and stay—when first writing a book.
The most important thing, when considering writing a book is: what story (or stories) do you want to share? This is especially important for non-fiction and memoir. If you’re writing fiction, really allow the ideas to stir for your characters, their voices, desires and the developing ideas you have already about who they are. Don’t censor yourself or wait for the perfect moment to write down any of your ideas, simply start with simple tools such as a notebook or MS Word/Google document.
Another important thing to talk to yourself about, or even journal about, is why it’s important to you to write this book or series of stories at this time? What are some developing goals? (These are not concrete, they can stay fuzzy, but are the fuel you’ll need to stay the course.) It’s okay to start with pie-in-the-sky dreams. Absolutely nothing wrong with that! Keep a post-it note visible to you when you’re working with that dream, wish or prayer. Let it remind you why you started this process in the first place!
If you’ve never written a book before, you’re training your brain how to write long-form fiction or non-fiction. You’re going to need a few tools to sustain yourself over the long-haul and the below advice is from 21 years of teaching writing, editing books, and being a full-time author/editor myself! Feel free to print this out and refer back to it, especially anything that resonates with you.
GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTING A BOOK
- Don’t ever try to draft and revise at the same time. Don’t be afraid to get messy in the drafting phase.
Your first phase of writing your book is called drafting. It’s okay to be messy. Trust that when you’re in editing mode, after you’ve written that first draft, you will be able to go back and fix everything, in phases. Why don’t you ever try to draft and revise at the same time? You’ll have a hard time reaching your finish line. I’ve seen far too many authors get derailed, and it took me six years to finish my first novel because I kept revising the same 60 pages. It took one of my teen students pointing this out to get me to stop! (Thanks Jacob!)
If you’re like me, and work better in tidy and organized environments, this will feel like chaos, initially. However, this wonderful program, Scrivener, makes it easy for me to take that messy first draft and shine it up in my revision phase. You have to separate the two tasks of drafting and revising or you get: derailed, overwhelmed, and can take a long time reaching the finish line.
A lot of new authors feel pressured to produce pristine prose on a first draft, regardless of genre. If they’re writing prescriptive non-fiction (how-to non-fiction) or accustomed to writing short pieces for work this can be especially hard to instill. However, simply remind yourself, any time you want to go back and fix, or wait for “the right word,” that you can simply write blank, blank or use the _____ symbol to fill in the right word when you go back and revise. Allow yourself to get into a flow state by focusing on the structure of what you’re building with that book idea. If you finish a scene or chapter and feel like there’s a lot of missing information coming back to you, instead of trying to find a place to put that information, simply put in an “*” where you left off and type up the new information. Worry about where it will go later. Trust me, you’ll find the perfect place for it. If you’re using Scrivener, you can put a note in the side margin (that doesn’t show up in the text itself when you export it), if your idea isn’t fully formed yet.
Often authors who work with me aren’t aware of what the drafting process looks like for longer projects. These talented folks, many of whom have successfully written shorter pieces for work or published short stories, approach long-form writing with the same expectations and drafting techniques. You can easily edit as you go for a short story, article or blog, or pretty much anything under 5,000 words. Once you’re going above the 5,000 word mark, your strategies have to change—or you risk burning out. (See # 7 below).
- Give yourself dedicated weekly writing time with built-in breaks.
If you’re like me, you have a full-time job or full-time obligation that means you can’t sit and write for hours a day. That’s okay. You’re not alone. Most authors can’t write full-time, it’s just not possible. Instead, they carve out time weekly to give themselves dedicated time to work on their books. Feel the joy of writing this new work by carving out regular time and sacred space where you will not be interrupted for at least 20 minutes, but even 10 minutes can do. When I’m really busy I aim for at least 10 minutes twice a week. I also mark a star on my paper desk calendar so that at the end of the month I can congratulate myself with a small treat for a job well done.
You might ask: how do I use this time wisely? Keep your phone out of arm’s reach, with your ringer turned off. Decide if analog (hand-writing in a notebook) or digital works better for you, or maybe do a mix of both. However, put on a kitchen timer or other timing device for at least 10 minutes starting off to give yourself that uninterrupted time for flow. When you feel stuck, give yourself a break to stretch, get a drink of water, walk for a few minutes, trusting that the answer to what you’re stuck on will come through movement and patience. Once the idea strikes, go back to the page immediately. If you need more techniques on time management of creative projects, take a look at Chapter 6 of The 5 Resets by Aditi Nerurkar.
- Believe that your voice and story matters.
If you keep working on this book with the idea that your voice/story matters, it will help when life tries to invade your precious writing time. I find that women often bear the brunt of this as well as full-time caregivers, where they are expected, unrealistically, to be on call all the time. Look at ways in which you can say “No” to one thing that will free up at least 20 minutes a week to write what you’ve always dreamed of writing, but never had the time. Believe that this journey is essential and trust at least two friends with helping hold you accountable to your goal of finishing this book. If you need some help with believing in your voice, seek out that help. Don’t hold back or delay.
- Be aware of what derails you and write it down in a journal or notebook.
Don’t get tied up in solving your book’s theme or plot or get mired in research rabbit holes. Your first draft is just that: a precious first draft; it is not the end of your book’s progression. Most books go through at least 3 idea drafts before they’re ready for solid granular revision (copy-editing/proofreading). Most fiction books, like mine, have gone through 8-10 drafts before publication. Don’t let this information overwhelm you. Knowing there will be plenty of time for correction later is intended to free you up now. You’re only job right now is drafting. Revising is for later. Repeat this as a mantra when you feel the urge to revise, before you’re finished drafting.
- Don’t fixate or worry about how to publish or who will read your book while you’re drafting.
You’ve got at least 2-3 more drafts ahead of you as you form this narrative into something solid. If you’re writing prescriptive non-fiction (see more below), you don’t actually have to draft the full book in detail before approaching a literary agent or publisher. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey and talk to those negative voices trying to derail you and protect you from going into untested waters. Most people who write books have never been published before and are not professional writers. Trust that you are not alone, but also find your people who are writing through organizations like The Writer’s League of Texas, SCBWI, and Authors Guild. Continue to feed the spark that got you writing and let that joy be fully manifested by sharing it with others and hearing how they’re enjoying the writing process.
- Don’t set unrealistic expectations for your first draft—know what word count to realistically aim for.
It’s good, while you’re drafting, to decide what genre your work could fit into, at the most essential level, if it’s just fiction or non-fiction. This will help with knowing what word count your book could eventually fit into, but doesn’t need to be anywhere near in your first draft. I see too many authors getting derailed trying to “pad” their book when they don’t need to. Here are the major types of books’ word count average lengths:
- Prescriptive Non-fiction (How-to, Self Help, Recipe Books, etc…) 25,000-75,000 average wordcount depending on the genre of book and its topic. This is the type of book that doesn’t have to be fully written out word-for-word before approaching literary agents or publishers, but it does have to have a solid outline + sample chapters before approaching literary agents. See more about writing book proposals on Jane Friedman’s website here.
- Memoir/Biography 40,000-80,000 words
- Fiction (it will vary greatly depending on genre and publisher):
- Novella 30,00-45,000 words
- Novel 45,000-100,000 words
There is nothing wrong with aiming for half of the word counts above in a first draft, or even less. A skeleton can be easier to work with for a first-time author than a ponderous draft in which you already know you’re going to have to cut half of it. Set a realistic goal for that first draft.
For my first draft of my next novel, Bones of Our Ancestors, I set the goal of just 20,000 words, all handwritten. It made it easier for me to draft, because writing was super portable. I didn’t have to lug my laptop around with me and get distracted. It meant in five months, I had a finished draft that I’m currently adding to. It’s okay to have scenes and chapters that are outline only in a first draft, or even just drawings. There is no “right way” to draft. The aim with drafting is to simply get the ideas down so you can come back in your first revision and solidify them.
- Congratulate yourself on the small and big wins.
I like to take myself out for Juiceland or celebrate with a friend at lunch or dinner when I make both small and big wins. If I’ve been able to hit all my writing appointments with myself for the month, it’s time for a Lick ice-cream or Juiceland smoothie. If I’ve got a big win, I like to go out with my husband or a friend who knows how hard I’ve been working on this. I belong to a writer’s accountability group with author PJ Hoover, Kara Lenore and poetess/editor Heidi Kasa, who help me stay on track monthly with my goals, but also have supported me when things get in the way.
Being kind to yourself is essential: you’ll stay more motivated if you’re gently encouraging yourself versus beating yourself up. Always ask yourself, in tough moments, what is possible for me today? If it’s only a few minutes of writing, that’s okay! That’s still a win!
- Get informed: be a part of the writing and publishing ecosystem.
There are a lot of myths circulating about writers and what it means to write a book. I hope I’ve helped to debunk several of them, but one I haven’t spoken about yet is that writing is only for elite people who have lots of time. This is completely untrue; however, it’s hard to stay informed if you’re only relying on google searches and not interacting with the writing community in real time.
Join a local write-in, go to local book launch events, even if it means driving for an hour (I’ve been there in my long stint living overseas), be a part of the living, in-person book space when you can, and join online events when you can’t. Read great books by writers about writing, like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, or Steering the Craft by Ursula K. LeGuin. If stress is getting in the way of your dream, read The 5 Resets by Aditi Nerukar.
Your book will get published, it’s just a matter of when, and it’s about making sure you’re putting yourself in the position to be informed about what that process looks like for what you’re writing. Read in your genre and outside your genre. Be aware of what’s getting published now that looks like what you’ve written. It’s okay if you’re trying to be an outlier, but be aware that if you’re too much of an outlier with your story structure or book idea, you might not be the best fit for traditional publishing. It’s better to know when you’re only on draft 1 or 2 about what type of market your book is sold in.
Sign up for newsletters from editors and authors who care deeply about the welfare of authors such as Jane Friedman, local editors Tiffany Yates Martin and myself! Be aware of scams for new, unaware authors by checking out Writer Beware.
- Embrace and believe that EVERYTHING in your book can be fixed in revision and with really incisive feedback you’ll get the support you need to see your book through to the finish line.
Every author’s finish line looks different. Some authors write books and shelve them, choosing a second or third book to go through the various phases of revision to publication. First-time authors often attend workshops, classes, and even submit their work to contests that offer feedback to sharpen their writing skills.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that all good books, especially the ones you love, have had several eyes on them before they went to print. You are never reading the first draft of someone’s work, despite the rumors circulating about a particular author’s writing process.
Give yourself the grace to let each draft have a specific focus as you develop your work, and decide when you’re ready for it to be seen by a trusted critique partner, get workshopped in a class, or receive professional feedback. Don’t hold back from getting help just because it isn’t perfect or “ready.” Nothing published is ever perfect. The author simply got to a point where it was good enough and they stopped polishing it to hand off to their editor!
If you need help with deciding how to develop your novel, or would like writing coaching to help you reach the finish line, you can get in touch here .
Keep on pursuing that dream. It’s totally worth it! For those already writing their book: welcome to a really wonderful community of authors. We’re happy to have you here!