Nowadays, publishing is not the most difficult part of writing a book. Writing is. However, an author has to finish his book projects and any advice he gets goes a long way with helping him in his endeavors. The following are some tips that authors should keep in mind when writing.
Getting started
An author should start small. Writing 300 words daily for the first few days is more than enough. John Grisham was a lawyer when he started writing. Every day he would wake up and write a single page of his novel. Starting slowly is a great way for an author to have the story completely figured out by the first few chapters.
You should have an outline. An author should never allow his work to wander aimlessly. In order to keep it in check, he should make a table of contents and divide each chapter into several sections. A book should have the beginning, middle, and end. Limit the number of side plots in the book because they will only serve to dilute the main storyline.
Set aside time for your book. Regardless of how busy you are, make sure that you dedicate some time for your book. This time can be considered as time off from your other engagements. You should not let deadlines pass because you gave too little time to your book.
You should have a unique place for writing. The space you use for writing should not be the same space that you do other things in. When you have a place dedicated for writing, you will be ready to write every time you get into that space.
Stay accountable
One of the best ways to stay accountable is to have set word counts. You should think about writing work in increments of 10,000 words. For instance 10,000 words is the length of a pamphlet, 20,000 words is a short print or eBook, 40,000-50,000 words is an ideal nonfiction book, 60,000-70,000 words is a long nonfiction book, and 80,000-100,000 words is a novel.
Create weekly deadlines. A deadline can be a word count, percentage of total progress, or any other way of measuring work done. You should set a weekly target and hold yourself accountable.
You should also get early feedback for your unfinished book. It is frustrating to finish a whole book only to have to revise it because you didn’t get another person’s opinion. You should have some trusted advisers to read through your work as you continue writing.
Stay motivated
After finishing a book, make sure you take the next step. Many authors finish books and let them stay in their desk drawers or on their computers because they are afraid of rejections. Get your book out there.
You should always be ready to embrace failure. One of the things that any writer must have is a thick hide. Failure is hard on any author, but you should be prepared to deal with it. When a book gets rejected by one agent, send it to another one, and another.
While trying to get a book out to readers, start writing another book. Your previous book might not be giving you much joy but it taught you many things. These lessons surely have to make your next book better, right?
