Before you begin writing acim, you must research your idea and see if it is in-demand with readers. Who is going to read it? To whom are you trying to appeal with your words? You must have a general idea of who your intended audience will be. Check out other books. Is there a book already published that resembles your book? What will make your book unique from theirs? If there are similar books already out there, what is going to make your book different and make people want to buy it?
When you are ready to begin your book, decide on a schedule that is best for you, one that you can stick to. Your schedule should begin before your research and carry through to the completion of the book. Make a detailed outline with the main plot, events leading to that plot, and explicit detail about the characters. An outline is also a good reference point to double-check your timelines and details.
ONE IDEA IS NOT ENOUGH
Part of the reworking process is changing direction within the writing. Many beginning writers aspire to write a book. They have an idea and a vague plan to turn the idea into book. Picture a first grader telling you she wants to write a book about horses. Although you can collect a lot of information about horses to write several books, the vague idea is not enough for an adult writer to create a marketable book. To write a book, you need to start with a topic. You may or may not be an expert on the subject. After you have the first vague ideas, you need to start asking yourself questions to focus in on a specific, marketable topic.
Answering those questions will lead you to more questions, and so on. Even if your original idea is unique and leads you to write new information that the world does not yet have access to, you will need to add to that original idea to create an intriguing finished product. If you are not an expert, or you have not created any new information, it will take more time and effort to produce a unique piece of writing. Fiction is the same as non-fiction. Many stories have been told before. If you want to become a published author, you need to come up with an engaging and new journey for your readers to take.
RECYCLING OLD IDEAS
There is always room in your book for old ideas. Your readers will need a familiar starting place within your writing. As you are putting together your ideas for a complete book, you will probably publish smaller pieces of work in magazines and newspapers. It is okay, as long as you cite yourself, to reuse some of that work. In that way, you can publish as you go along while still making progress towards your end goal in book publishing. After several months or even years, you will have poured out your effort and knowledge into a completed book.
You may want to turn off your editing software for your first draft. Mesh the plot, the characters, and everything together, without using your spellchecker. You can fix your grammar, spelling, and punctuation later. Most authors don’t write their books from front to back. By writing different chapters or events, it may be easier for you to come back and connect them later. Sometimes having the words on paper makes it easier to fill in the blanks.
