During the live streams on Monday nights, I’ve been asked a few times about how I write fiction books. Where do I get my ideas, how do I keep momentum going to write, and how do I solve writer’s block are among the most common questions. Let me break it down a bit.
First, I’ve always been quite a fast typist. From the days of pecking out a short story in seventh grade, I’ve put a lot of effort into keeping my fingers quick and nimble.
Second, I’ve got an incredibly overactive imagination. It’s gotten me into trouble a bit, but it has also been a blessing in many ways.
With that being said, there is more to writing a good book than simply typing fast and being imaginative. This is especially true if you have trouble motivating yourself to write.
8 Steps to Writing the First Draft
In this post, I’m going to go over my process for writing books. I’ll use my most recent novel, Shadows of Atlantic City, as an example.
Of course, this isn’t the best method for everyone. The best method to write a book is the one that works for you. Meaning, you want to develop your own techniques that help you write and publish amazing books.
These are just the steps that have worked for me thus far.
Step 1: Getting the Idea Going
First, you need to start with an idea. Obvious, I know. But, how detailed does the idea need to be when you start writing? That is completely up to you. Some people can write by the seat of their pants, while others need more of a guide.
There is no right or wrong answer to being a panster vs a plotter.
There are a number of ways to get ideas for writing a book. Every author is different when it comes to inspiration and the stories they want to tell.
In my case, I started with a short story I wrote for Vocal Media. My brother-in-law wanted me to try my hand at writing a western. The end result was a kind of spin-off from my first book, Kingmaker, but with a western theme.
For Shadows of Atlantic City, I took the idea of the short story and greatly expanded upon it while changing the characters.
Step 2: Setting Up the Outline (optional for you)
If you’re a pantser, then you probably don’t care about creating an outline of the story. However, outlining can do wonders for productivity and avoiding writer’s block. The hardest part is connecting the points together as you write.
I’ll spend a few hours outlining all of the “cool” parts I’d like to see in the book. Sometimes this includes specific sentences or actions taken that are either entertaining or solid plot points.
As I write, I often have to change some of the outline as the characters wind up doing or saying things that change the flow. But I don’t mind, since it keeps me writing at an even pace.
I’ve made a few videos about how I outline my books using a bracket system in the manuscript. How it works is that I keep the bracketed information below where I’m typing so I know where I need to connect the story. Then, once the bracketed text is addressed, I delete it and move on to the next bracket in the outline.
It probably sounds more complicated than it actually is, but this is what works best for me.
Step 3: Envisioning the Story with a “Theme Song”
Once I have the idea fleshed out in a few outline brackets, I think about a theme song for the book. This is a song or musical score that not only inspires me to write the book, but also inspires scenes and dialogue.
As I listen to the music, I think about what it would look like if I made a live-action trailer for the book using the song, or perhaps a music video of sorts. Then, I work those scenes into the book.
The funny part is that when I’m writing my books, the only background sounds I can have are the natural ones I use during the writing sprints. Music disrupts my flow, in most cases.
Anyway, every book has a theme song that helps envision what I’d like to see, especially if the book were to be made for the big screen or perhaps a streaming service.
In the case of Shadows of Atlantic City, I had two. One was a primary music trailer using an “epic” version of Ghostbusters, and the other was “Sin City,” by Meredith Brooks, that plays during the last chapter of the book.
Step 4: Setting Up Writing Goals and Deadlines
Setting goals and deadlines can help with stirring motivation, especially if you’re a self-published author working from home. You don’t have someone standing over your shoulder cracking the whip. You need to find ways to motivate yourself to move forward.
It’s all about creating accountability, which is why I often share my goals and deadlines on social media. I use my followers as a way to hold me accountable for getting things out at a certain time.
For Shadows of Atlantic City, I set a deadline in Reedsy and then used the minimum calculation it displays of how much to write every day. I did this for both of my books on Reedsy and was able to complete them ahead of schedule.
Of course, life got in the way and postponed publishing by quite a bit, which I’ll go over in a moment.
Step 5: Writing Light
While writing books, I write lightly. That means I add just enough detail to the plot and characters to get the story out of my head. Then, I add more to the manuscript during the several phases of editing.
Keep in mind that only 3% of writers finish the first draft. And fewer still wind up publishing the book. So, simply finishing the first draft of a book puts you in limited company.
Besides, you’ll feel a great swell of pride and accomplishment once that first draft is complete. It’ll help inspire you to keep going and motivate you to do what needs to be done to publish the book.
No one writes a perfect first draft. It’s meant to merely get the story out. The editing phases are for polishing and fine-tuning. Not to mention that it could be a waste of your time to “fix” something while writing the first draft that you’ll wind up deleting anyway in edits.
Step 6: Avoid Editing While Writing
The above brings me to avoid editing while writing the manuscript. As I said, the first draft isn’t meant to be perfect, just written. As long as it’s coherent, that’s all that really matters.
Now, there are some things that you’ll want to adjust for continuity or comprehension. Don’t just blindly grind away at the keyboard. But you don’t want to spend too much time editing an entire chapter to make it perfect.
This doesn’t mean that editing while you write is bad. Each to their own. There is really no right or wrong answer to writing a manuscript as long as it works for you. But consider not taking time to edit until after the first draft is done. You don’t know what will or won’t work until it’s all laid out in front of you.
Step 7: Avoid Ideas of “Perfection”
Writing a good book is subjective. This means that what one person deems as “good,” another might view as garbage. Such is the life of anyone putting themselves out there to be consumed by the public.
With that in mind, realize that perfection does not exist. All you can hope for is to fulfill the needs of your readers and fans.
One of my most common statements is that you can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Some are going to hate for the sake of hating. So, don’t push yourself too hard to write something that is perfect for everyone.
You could wind up spending 10 years trying to polish up something just because you don’t think it’s good enough. Let your audience decide whether it’s good enough or not.
Step 8: Polishing After the First Draft
Once I’ve written the first draft, I do a “polish” phase. This is when I go through to tighten up a few scenes, add a few details, and address any notes or bracketed comments I left for myself.
It’s not a full-on edit, as I don’t want to pour too much time into fixing things without getting feedback about the story’s flow and layout. It’s just a quick once-over to sweep some of the mess out of the way.
Usually, it’s to make sure everyone’s name is spelled correctly or that I’ve properly inserted locations or items. The last thing you want to present is a ton of plot holes or incoherent ramblings of things that don’t exist in the manuscript.
Hand it Off for Feedback Before Editing and Taking a Break
Once I’m done with the first draft, I hand it off to beta readers to get their input. During that time, I take a four to six-week break from the story. It helps clear your mind while improving the chances of finding issues in the manuscript when you return.
During the break, I usually work on another project. While waiting for feedback for Shadows of Atlantic City, I worked on Fury’s first draft.
I was taking breaks from first drafts before, but Tom Bromley of the Reedsy masterclass for How to Write a Novel reinforced the practice, as he also suggested four to six weeks.
It was pretty cool to know that I was already practicing a few things experts and professionals do while writing.
Don’t Forget, Life Gets In the Way!
Writing the first draft of Shadows of Atlantic City took about six months to complete. I had to postpone it several times due to personal and professional issues that had to be addressed. Theoretically, it should have been done in three.
The thing you need to keep in mind, especially as a self-published author, is that life has a habit of getting in the way.
Only 35% of authors write full-time, many of whom come from a two-partner income. This means that someone works a regular full-time job while the other writes from home.
The reason I bring this up is to demonstrate that there are a lot of things in life that can postpone a book release, such as work or taking care of children. So, don’t beat yourself up if it takes two years to publish a book.
Too many people get it stuck in their heads that they can become full-time authors right from the jump. In reality, very few will ever make enough to replace a full-time income. At least an income that is comparable to a decent livable wage from a corporation.
In 2022, the median income for Romance/Romantic Suspense averaged out to $31,725 for the year. Coincidentally, that is the most popular genre for books. The median income for authors then breaks down to about $86.92 per day, which doesn’t include various expenses such as cover art, editing, or marketing.
A lot of things have to align just right for you to make it as a full-time author. So, don’t forget that life will sidetrack those efforts and may prolong the process of becoming financially stable.
A Story Is Just Waiting for You to Write It
When it comes to writing books, the process is different for every author. From ideation to manuscript, we are all unique in what drives us to move forward. All I can do is show you what worked best for me while writing Shadows of Atlantic City.
Is this how I handle every book I write? For the most part, yes. It’s a tried-and-true method that continues helping me put together some great stories, according to my readers.
Am I averse to trying something new? Not really. While I am one of those people who don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken, you never know what will work better if you don’t try it for yourself.
So, find the steps that work best for you and get that story written. Everyone has an audience, and yours is just waiting for that book to drop on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
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