Writing a book in ten simple steps:

Writing a book is no easy task. For a writer, it is a challenge of choosing the right words and conveying the message to the reader. It is not simply sitting at a table and writing a book out of nowhere. It is, in fact, a very challenging task. You can write a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole chapter at times but then at days, you will fumble around with pages and ink not knowing how to continue the story. It is for this very reason that most books are left unfinished daily. Simply because the writer gives up. Here we will discuss the ten simple steps to writing your very own book. But before we get to that let us take a look at the phases of writing a book.

• Beginning: It has to be obvious that the first step is getting yourself to start. You need to have a clear idea of what your book will be about. Don’t drag useless elements and try to keep it simple. Think of what you want to portray and what you want your reader to learn after finishing your book. That is your goal.

• Staying Motivated: While writing a book, a writer faces a lot of self-doubts and may even have second thoughts about his work. Instead, you should try to remove these feelings and remain optimistic. You need to prepare yourself for anything that might demotivate you so you remain consistent in your work.

• Finishing: Nobody wants to hear that you ‘almost’ wrote a book once. What we are interested in is whether you finished writing it or not. Therefore, try to complete your work instead of leaving it in between. Try to show your work so you get feedback and if you like, why not write another one?

Now we will discuss ten steps to writing a book which falls under these three phases. Follow them and you are sure to complete your very own book.

• PHASE 1: Beginning: To write a book you have to start from somewhere. There are four simple steps in this first phase.
  

1: Deciding the topic for your book:   

For the first step, you need to decide what your topic is. Think of your topic in a simple sentence, construct a paragraph from that idea as a stem. Then stretch it into a one-page outlet. Now you will have a clearer idea of your focus. Next, tabulate a table of contents to help guide you through the story. Break your story into parts and consider each segment a chapter. Keep it simple. A beginning, middle, and end. Your chapters should showcase the whole story so these parts can be identified easily.

2: Setting a daily goal:

For your work to remain consistent, try to set a daily goal of how many words you will write. You can choose to write a page per day or whatever you like. You just need to write daily but do not burden yourself. Try to keep your goal attainable so you can complete it daily and remain motivated. You could take the example of John Grisham, an American bestselling author. He had a very busy life at the start of his career(being a father and a lawyer at the same time). But he set a daily goal of writing a page per day or around 300 words and stuck to it.

3: Set a time for work:

Trying to stay consistent in your task is really hard. Especially if you are exhausted or have too many distractions. For this, you need to set a daily deadline or make a schedule. Take a day off when you’re exhausted but schedule ahead of time to cover that loss of time. Try to keep up with your deadlines so you become accustomed to writing daily and don’t leave it in process.

4: Make a workspace:

Work is work no matter what kind. Therefore you need to keep your workspace separate from where you do your other activities. You can make a workspace in your home from a simple desk or choose a simple place like a café or restaurant table. The idea is to create the feeling of having a workplace where, once you enter, you must focus on your work.

• PHASE 2: Doing the work:  The first steps can be considered preparatory. Now comes the actual task of doing the work. The next steps focus on the working part.

5: Setting a total word count:

The next step is knowing the length of your book. You need to set a total word count for your book. For example, one way is to divide the chapters into roughly the same length. Here is a simple guide to what length your book should be.

• 10,000 words: typical length of a pamphlet or business paper. Reading time: 30-60 minutes.
• 20,000 words: length of a short eBook. Reading time: 1-2 hours.
• 40,000-60,000 words: length of a standard novella. For example A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Reading time: 3-4 hours.
• 60,000-80,000 words: a long nonfiction book or a standard novel. Reading time: 4-6 hours.
• 80,000-100,000 words: a long nonfiction book or long novel.+
• words: an epic-length novel or biography. Reading time: 6-8 hours.

6: Keeping up with your weekly deadline:

Set a weekly deadline for how many words you need to complete within a week. At the end of the week, you will be happy with the progress you’ve made. This will keep you motivated to keep working as well.

7: Get early feedback:

While you are writing your book, be sure to keep your family, friends or any trusted advisor close by. You can ask for someone to give you early feedback on your book so you know if your story is being delivered correctly. Besides, it would be better than having to rewrite your book later on.

• PHASE 3: Finishing your book: Now the last few steps focus on wrapping up your work.

8: Give your book to the readers:

The worst mistake would be to finish your book and never truly releasing it to the audience. Try to get your book published or post it on Amazon. Or you could create your own blog and post your book there regularly. The aim is to let your words be read and recognized.

9: Prepare yourself for failure:

You need to remain prepared for failure. Nothing is perfect and by the time you finish your work you might notice a lot of flaws. You must embrace these flaws and try to accept your failure. But do not be disheartened, this is the first of many works. For example, writer J.K Rowling says she sent her manuscript for Harry Potter to 12 different publishers and was rejected before being accepted by Bloomsburg.

10: Write another book:

Most beginners tend to dislike their early work in writing. Just because your first piece of work isn’t perfect doesn’t mean you stop there. Instead, you should keep on practicing and continue writing better books.

Why Do Most People not Complete Their Books?

As discussed before, many writers tend to leave their work unfinished. The reason could be that they hit a stump and did not know how to continue the story. For others, people simply do not read their books or they aren’t published. It is for this reason that many books that could prove to be bestsellers remain undiscovered.

For professional writers and authors writing a book isn’t simple sitting down and letting the words flow. Instead, you need to take your time. Try to write a book that will not only be a manifestation of your thoughts but will excite and intrigue the reader.