Have you always thought about writing a book but you aren’t sure where to start? If so then fear not as you are most certainly not alone and this is a situation that a great many people are in. My good friend Eric Wetlaufer from back in Wesson is an outstanding writer and I want to talk you through his process a little today, in the hope that the men and women out there wishing to be authors can finally get started on that book that they always wanted to write. In most cases this comes very easily after the prep work is done, and here are some tips on how to begin.
Themes
If you already have a theme in mind then this first step won’t apply to you, if however you haven’t quite got a theme that you feel happy about then it is time to start making lists. Sit down with a blank page and try to forget about any kind of rules or regulations, you can write about literally anything that you would like. Start listing your topics, whatever comes to mind whether it be aliens with fidelity issues, a swarm of ants taking over the world or a heartfelt tale of an elderly couple looking to travel the world. Remember there are no restrictions, just explore as many themes as you want.
Characters
If the plan is to write about people then it is never a bad time to start thinking about characters and their development. The great thing about this is that you can develop characters even before you have a story, and then slot them in at a later date. There are all manner of ways that Eric does this, sometimes he’ll write a character based on someone that he would like to be, or occasionally he will see someone interesting in the street and create a story about them. Even if you do not have a theme in mind, get started with developing characters and thinking about how you can best do it.
Writing Conversations
Something which many people have an issue with is writing out spoken word and it is understandable as conversations look a whole lot different when they are written on paper. What Eric has done in the past to help him with this is actually to record real conversations between himself and others, and then write out the conversation. What this does is it gets you in the habit of writing in this style. Furthermore in doing this it feels less strange when you are writing out the words of a conversation which, if you haven’t done so before, very much does feel and look strange.
Finally the last piece of the puzzle is to do some research, research others who write in a style that you want to write in and research the basis of your story. Once you have your story then why not start emailing around to family and friends to see what they think, or even send it to a publishing company, if it is declined then you have lost nothing, if they like it then you have it all to gain!