"Writing Forever" by Nilufer Gadgieva, January 18th, 2014. No changes made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode When I was younger, Wikihow used to have an easy nine step article on how to write a book. I checked just now and it looks like they’ve updated it to something that takes into account a bit more of the complexity of the process. Nevertheless, in undertaking to write a series of articles on how to write a book, I feel like I too am in danger of overly simplifying an arduous task. Bear in mind that these articles will not be perfect, and any other author will be able to point out things that I’ve forgotten to mention.
The first step to writing a book is having a passion. People say “write what you know”. That is somewhat essential for the book to make sense. But most importantly, write what you love – what you’re passionate about. Write about something that you believe in. Don’t bother writing about a subject that you’re a professional in but don’t care about enough. This is why I will probably never write a book about piano playing.
How does one make it through the difficult stages of planning a novel and then writing the complete work? And afterward, editing it to death? And after that, earning next to nothing from it? It’s quite simple: one has to care. You have to care immensely about what you’re writing about. The message you are delivering has to be of infinite importance to you. You have to believe that if you didn’t say it, no one else would say it – at least not quite in the way that you would. You have to believe that it will help people, better them, change them. And if you don’t, maybe it’s not worth writing. Maybe you should stop here. Maybe you shouldn’t go any further.
When it came to writing my own series, telling my personal story of salvation made me passionate enough to keep going. I wrote it because I hoped it would encourage others, even others who have struggled or gone through really tough times.
This isn’t a very practical tip. But without passion, you will literally get nowhere. Those who write to sell might get where they want to be in the end. They might be earning very well from their erotica or vampire love stories. But the reward of creating a work of art that has made you a better person and stands to make other people better is worth far more than that. Additionally, good art is not about consumerism. I personally believe sometimes those who write primarily to sell should have stopped before they started. The world would be a better place without Fifty Shades of Grey.
So what about you? Where does your passion lie? How will you make a difference?
The first step to writing a book is having a passion. People say “write what you know”. That is somewhat essential for the book to make sense. But most importantly, write what you love – what you’re passionate about. Write about something that you believe in. Don’t bother writing about a subject that you’re a professional in but don’t care about enough. This is why I will probably never write a book about piano playing.
How does one make it through the difficult stages of planning a novel and then writing the complete work? And afterward, editing it to death? And after that, earning next to nothing from it? It’s quite simple: one has to care. You have to care immensely about what you’re writing about. The message you are delivering has to be of infinite importance to you. You have to believe that if you didn’t say it, no one else would say it – at least not quite in the way that you would. You have to believe that it will help people, better them, change them. And if you don’t, maybe it’s not worth writing. Maybe you should stop here. Maybe you shouldn’t go any further.
When it came to writing my own series, telling my personal story of salvation made me passionate enough to keep going. I wrote it because I hoped it would encourage others, even others who have struggled or gone through really tough times.
This isn’t a very practical tip. But without passion, you will literally get nowhere. Those who write to sell might get where they want to be in the end. They might be earning very well from their erotica or vampire love stories. But the reward of creating a work of art that has made you a better person and stands to make other people better is worth far more than that. Additionally, good art is not about consumerism. I personally believe sometimes those who write primarily to sell should have stopped before they started. The world would be a better place without Fifty Shades of Grey.
So what about you? Where does your passion lie? How will you make a difference?
