(Okay, so I may have just made up a word in the title of this post. If you wanted to write a commentary or documentary on a blog, then what would you call it??)
First, a little background. In case you’ve missed it, I’ve declared several times that I am starting to write my first book – like here, here, here, and here. (If you were already aware of that, then thanks for checking back with me!) I have no clue what to do, how to do it, or where to even start, so I had some meetings with a couple published authors.
I’ve been a little intimidated by the enormity of such a daunting task. So much so, that I still haven’t completely committed myself to it. I insist on saying things like, “I’m THINKING about MAYBE TRYING to write a novel.” I’m basically just running in place, even right now, by simply recapping posts that I’ve already written.
Anyway, once I stated my intentions, I heard from a lot of family and friends that they have had a very similar idea and to let them know how it goes. With that in mind, when I started to come to the realization that I would finally commit myself to writing a book, I also decided that it might be cool to write about the process itself and track my progress.
What I have learned through searches on the intrawebz and those earlier conversations with authors, is that there is no “right way” to write a book. That was my biggest first impression once I wrapped my head around the project and got motivated. Basically, if you think you want to write a book, then do it.
With all of that said (again), my process technically is well under way. I suppose the first step of any kind of creative writing would be brainstorming. Without a story to tell, there’s nothing to write about. This is where I developed the idea that turned into the plot. I sampled directly from a personal experience, added a conflict, gave it a setting, and made plans for a group of characters.
That’s when I took the next step and actively sought out guidance from people with experience. (This step would mainly apply only due to the fact that I have no experience. I would assume that after completion of my first project, this step may not be completely necessary in the future.) I learned that my rough beginnings actually had a name for it – prewriting. I was encouraged to fill out as much background information on characters, places, conflicts, etc, as much as I possibly could. I’ll have more on this in a later post that is focused more on this step.
Research was another step that was discussed at length in my conversations. I have started that step as well, and will also have more on that soon.
So for anyone interested, feel free to subscribe and follow along with me as I learn, document, and share my experiences over the course of this endeavor. And if you’ve ever thought you might want to write a book, then go for it. Nobody is going to do it for you. You don’t have to be a master of the English language, or even all that educated in creative writing…I sure ain’t! (Irony fully intended.)
Thank you, that is all.
CK Fiction 