How To Write A Book: First Steps For An Aspiring Author

In everyone’s life, there are periods when you’re simply overflowing with creative ideas. Creative impulse can manifest in the desire to draw, engage in music, or write a book. How to become a good writer? This question has been asked, is being asked, and will be asked by aspiring authors. According to many literary critics, a person who knows how to draw inspiration from various sources can become a writer.

For some, it’s the dawn, for others, it’s love, and for some, even a pet can be a source of inspiration. If you don’t have a source of inspiration, you won’t succeed. Additionally, you need to have at least minimal creative skills and a developed imagination. Just having the desire to write won’t be enough.

Free time also plays an important role. If you don’t have at least an hour of personal free time per day, you’ll quickly run out of steam and forget about your creativity. For aspiring authors, abandoning work on a book for 2-3 days is akin to death. AdmiGram.com will tell you how to write your first book correctly.

How to write a book: first steps for an aspiring author

Write drunk, edit sober

— Ernest Hemingway

Don’t take Uncle Hem’s brilliant words literally. It’s important to understand that your inspiration should come to you and intoxicate you to the point where you, like a possessed person, could say screw it all and write tirelessly until you lose your pulse. In the lives of creative individuals, this happens, but not as often as you might think.

While you’re just starting out, you may either have an excess of inspiration or, conversely, its absence, for example, when you wish it were there. The muse doesn’t come at your call, she comes on her own. Realize and learn to understand in which moments you are in the most creative and uplifted mood. For starters, this will be enough.

The greatest skill of a writer is the ability to delete

— Fyodor Dostoevsky

After creative inspirations, it’s time to edit all your work with a clear mind. If you feel that what seemed genius yesterday now appears awful today, and you wonder how you could have written such a thing at all — congratulations, you’re on the right track. After all, Dostoevsky once said that great authors delete more than they write.

26 times! That’s how many times Leo Tolstoy rewrote individual episodes of his novel ‘War and Peace’. Every time you reread your story or novel, you’ll feel the urge to revise certain narrative moments. This is a normal practice for any creative writer.

Brevity is the soul of wit

— William Shakespeare

Often in their creative endeavors, aspiring authors try to bite off more than they can chew. If you want to write not just for yourself but for someone else, then try to focus not on novels but on simple short stories. Within a range of 10-15 thousand words, you can create a brilliant work. Strive to write and edit your story in a way that makes it concise and engaging.

Your narrative should clearly outline the story’s idea. You should succinctly but sequentially describe all the events happening in the story you’ve imagined. Consider and describe all the characters and names of the places where the events of your story take place.

Good expression is prose that sounds like poetry

— Edgar Allan Poe

To write interestingly, clearly, and beautifully, it’s necessary to learn from other authors. By reading the works of renowned writers, you’ll not only learn how to write ‘well,’ but also refine your literary skills.

There’s nothing wrong with imitating your idols. By writing a couple of stories (or retellings), imitating your favorite authors, you’ll be able to see your weak or strong points. The more you read others, the more you’ll hone your creative craftsmanship.

Nothing mighty, nothing great can come from a venal pen

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Often, after writing their first piece, aspiring authors try to earn from it right away. Of course, it’s good, but only if your work is flawless. Try sharing your first story with friends or posting it on one of the thematic websites. By reading feedback, you’ll understand what you’re doing wrong.

Try to analyze objective criticism. Feedback can be very harsh. If you fear a barrage of criticism, write under a pseudonym. Don’t strive to write for money — write for people and only from the heart, in moments of your creative surge. Only by experiencing the bitterness of failure and the joy of recognition can you become a true writer.

image on top: Ryan Snaadt / Unsplash