You have this intense drive and motivation to write a book. However, you are not sure what steps to take and what actions to avoid. Writing a book is daunting because there are a lot of things to consider in crafting an amazing one. Also, there are many factors that you should look out for before you can produce a publishing-worthy manuscript — the one that captures the attention of both publishers and readers. With the current number of books that are competing in the market today, taking the leap and risking it all to be the next best-selling author is definitely hard. You should be able to survive the competition and have what it takes to be on top of the list.
Apart from that, there are also different genres that you must consider before writing one, which are prose, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Examples of each genre are 1984 by George Orwell for prose, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur for poetry, Jasmine: A Better Love by Monique Boyd for fiction, and Sabbath Economics: A Spiritual Guide Linking Love with Money by Judith Wright Favor for nonfiction.
However, if you are determined to write the next remarkable book that can touch the lives of many, the here are the points that you must take note of and you should avoid.
Do’s
Brainstorm for the basics
Take some time to brainstorm for some ideas and concepts that can surely elevate the beauty of the story that you are about to write. This activity enables you to think extensively. Hence, you can think of different options that you can incorporate on every aspect of the story, such as setting, plot, characters, point-of-view, theme, and more. Afterward, you can create an outline base on the results of your brainstorming.
Research the important details
Conducting a research before you start writing is the best thing to do. Regardless of what genre your tale belongs, you should study and collect factual and reliable details. It cannot be avoided that there are aspects of your book that needs correct descriptions in order to help the readers imagine the exact place or event that you want to show them. This also strengthens the quality of your book because readers can identify how the incorporated details are related or close to the real world.
Pay attention to plot holes
Plot holes can throw your story off. Imagine putting all the hard work in writing the manuscript but ending up losing the interest of the readers due to unnoticed plot holes. To prevent that to happen, you should scan your work after finishing each chapter or the whole story. You may hire an advanced reader to give you some feedback on what parts of the plot that is lacking and uninteresting. Also, you can hire a professional editor to enhance the overall quality of your work.
Don’ts
Rush to end the story
There are times that you become demotivated in finishing the book that even a paragraph becomes difficult to finish. There are also moments that you feel so much inspiration that you are unintentionally enhancing your pace and almost ending the story. If either of these happens, please take a quick breather in order to regain the pace that you normally have. Rushing to end the book is not a good thing because there will aspects that you might miss out leading to a dull and so-so story. This will affect the impact that your book might leave to your readers.
Switch the point of view all of the sudden
The POV is important. This is the element that helps the readers navigate and witness the story through the eyes of the character, narrator, or etc. They can also see get a glimpse on the emotions, thoughts, and experiences of the characters. You, as the author, are the only one who has the power to choose what point of view to use. What you need to avoid is the sudden switching of point of views without proper indication whose POV is already being used in the chapters. Although there are stories that uses different eyes of the characters, such as Eleanor & Park, they still did a great job on the switching part because there are enough details and indication that didn’t confuse the readers.
Oliver’s Twist 