A Few Tricks

Alright,

So I'm not a published author or anything, but as you know I have been working on my first book for the last three years. Some of my friends who write have asked me a few things about what I found most helpful in the process, so through trial and error, here they are.

1) When I first started writing, I spent about the first eight months just brain storming. I had a basic premise of what I wanted my story to be about, but it partly takes place in another world, so I needed to understand that world better than anyone alive. What I did to do this, is bought a stack of index cards, and just started scribbling down ideas. Since my book will have a sequel, these cards will come in very handy even if I don't use them in the first book. But I can't tell you how often they've aided my deteriorating "mommy brain" already.

2) Research! Make sure you research everything about anything you are writing about. Part of my book is taking place in our world, so I had to research everything about one of the areas, because I've never been there before. The other I'd lived in personally, so it wasn't as necessary, but knowing everything there is to know about the physical setting of your book is really beneficial to helping the story flow when you finally start writing it.

3) If your book does take place in a different realm, then draw a map of it. I am not an artist by any means, but understanding the logistics of where everything is and having a rough visual idea of what you want it to look like, makes describing it in words far easier than just pulling it out of your imagination randomly. (Others may disagree with me, but I've just found this really helpful.) Here's a picture of my map.



4) OUTLINE!!! I wish I had paid better attention in AP English when they talked about outlining research papers. It took me two drafts to finally realize how invaluable an outline is when you're trying to wrap your mind around something as huge and complex as a novel story line.

5) When you've completed your outline, create a story board. Here's a picture of mine. It has helped me in being able to have the entire story in front of me so that when I'm writing a chapter that has to do with a previous or later chapter, all I have to do is find it on the board, and I can see what I've already written and/or want to write and I don't have to do shuffling through a bunch of notes or re-read the chapter to know what I need to be writing about.


6) Don't show your manuscript to anyone until YOU are happy with it. Of course there are exceptions to this, like when you've got writer's block and can't seem to figure out how to move forward. But, you have to remember that everyone is going to have their own ideas about what they think should or shouldn't happen in your story; but it is your story. It should make you happy and follow the destiny you've set up for it.

7) Map out your story according to a formula. This is really helpful to know where the key chapters are, and as far as climax is concerned, where it should begin building and where it should end. I found a formula from an old play writing book I used in a class I took in college. It's called Play Writing from Formula to Form: A Guide to Writing a Play by William Missouri Downs and Lou Anne Wright. It's on page 33. Again, this just helps you wrap your entire mind around the plot, and it's also helped me keep the story in perspective so that I didn't make any one part too pronounced for the rest of the story.

8) Set reasonable deadlines for yourself. I'm the perfectionist sort of writer that has to have a deadline or else I'll never be finished with something. Setting a deadline for myself helps me to maximize the limited time I do have to write as a full-time mom, and it also gives me an end in sight. Speaking of deadlines, I've just helped put together a writing group with some ladies from my ward, and August 28 is my new deadline to having this manuscript ready for readers! This is very good news! I'm determined to make it!

9) Speaking of writing groups, that is another great thing to do. When your looking for feedback, it's always nice to get it from people who know what they're talking about--the other kind is very valuable too, but for polishing purposes and more complex aspects of your writing that a regular reader might not pick up on, people who write as well will probably understand those things better and might be able to point you in a better direction.

Anyway, these are just some things I've found really helpful. I hope some writer out there finds as much use from them as I have.