Write Your Book!…Five Magical Tips

By Carole Calladine, author of Second Story Woman

            Why write a book? Amy Lowell said it best. Books are more than books.  They are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men lived and worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives.

            If everyone wrote their story, what a rich library on living we’d have to share with each other!  For ultimately, writing a book is a way to connect with others.  Everyone has something to say. But “how to” say it and getting past beginner’s roadblocks requires some doing. As an author of three books, I offer you five magical start-up tips to jumpstart your writing journey.

            1.  Find a companion book.  What do you like to read: biography, science fiction, memoir, mysteries, essays, novels, poetry, training manuals?  Pick a book that you wished you’d written. Analyze and use this book as your model. You now have a structure for your story. How many chapters?  How many pages in a chapter? What’s the story’s sequence?

Ever watch artists learning their craft? They sit, study, and mimic techniques used in the art displayed before them. Authors do this, too. Make a list of first sentences that grab you. Look at last sentences, tables of contents, and count the number of people in the story.

2. Write scenes no matter what genre you are writing.  Otherwise, you’ll sit and stare at the blank paper or computer screen for hours searching for the perfect, first sentence. Collect these scenes and later you can decide what order they belong in and what that important first sentence is. Writers and readers tend to think in pictures and writing scenes will hold your (and their) interest.

3. Write your truth as a novel. Because you don’t want to upset Mom, Uncle Jake, or your boss and are waiting for them to die before you write your book, disguise your cast of characters. Most people don’t recognize themselves in print. And if they do, as Pat Conroy’s Dad did in The Great Santini, they may be excited about who is going to play them in the movie version.

            4.  Read your work aloud, to others.  Join a writers’group, attend writing workshops, find a writing partner.  Take notes about what listeners remember, want to know more about.  This will be the essence of what you have to say.

            5.  Make a commitment to your project.  Block out time in your calendar.  Honor and keep sacred this schedule.  If you write three pages per week, you will have 156 pages in a year’s time.  You’ll also have a first draft.  During the second year, you can edit and polish.  Having a baby takes time, so why wouldn’t writing a book.  It’s another birthing experience and in the end you have something valuable to pass on to the next generation.  Remember, books are the very heart and core of ages past.  Isn’t it time for you to be a part of this grand tradition!