So you want to write a book? Congratulations! So does everyone! But are you going to write a book? Oh, yes you will! It’s going to be time consuming and harder than they make it look in the movies, but you’re going to do it. Know why? Because I’m going to give you the cheat codes.
Get
your favorite book and read it again, but this time I want you to take copious
notes. What kind of notes? Well, take note of every time the plot moves
forward. What happened? Who did it? Why do you think it happened? And then read
on to the next plot point and do the same. Repeat until finish.
You’re
diagramming the plot now. You are literally plotting the plot points. When
you’re finished you will have a very detailed outline of the plot of your
favorite novel. Now, read it. Does it make sense? If it doesn’t, go back and
look up the text around the plot points that don’t make sense and add some more
notes. Eventually, you’ll get a skeletal structure of your most cherished read.
Guess
what? That’s the outline of your first novel! See how easy it was?
I
know. It sounds like plagiarism. Don’t worry. It isn’t. How could it be? You
haven’t published anything yet! The reason this book is your favorite has a lot
to do with the way the plot was stitched together. Plot, in my opinion, is the
hardest part of writing. Once you can weave a good plot, you can write a good
book. In fact, that’s the only thing
a lot of successful authors can do, but don’t get me started.
Anyway,
you’ve got the bare bones of your plot. Now take your ideas for what your book will be about and start swapping them
in. Soon, you’ll see where you need to flesh some things out and where you
might have too much going on. Toy around with that for a few months. Take your
time with it! You won’t need to do this with every book you’ll ever write, but
for the first one it’s critical.
Who
are your most beloved heroes from film and literature? What made them
unforgettable? What made you care about them? Take those things and leave the
rest. Forget about what made them heroic. Forget about what made them powerful
or quirky. That’s window dressing. You’ll add it later. You want the readers to
care about your protagonist first and foremost. And if you don’t care, then
they won’t either.
Next
thing is easy and also hard. Take the worst moment in your life and remember
who you were at that time. Now imagine who you wish you could have been. Take
both of those things and combine them with the sympathetic traits of your
favorite characters and you’ve got your protagonist.
Cheat Code 3 (FINISH IT!!!)
Now
write. Write as often as you can and don’t stop. What you will write is going
to be terrible. Who cares? No one at this point, so you shouldn’t either. Keep
going. Insert your hero into each plot point and then pull them out. Do it
again and again like you’re knitting a fucking quilt, because you are. When you
don’t have any more plot for your hero to perforate, guess what?
You’re
done!
Except
you’ve only just begun. Revision is where the real novel is written. You’ll
find everything you’ve written is horrible and makes no sense. Don’t worry.
That’s how it should be. Now, sit down and read it from beginning to end and
rip it apart like it was your kid sister’s favorite doll and then put it back
together again better than before like your mom was telling you to.
You’ll
know when you’re done. It will grow from reading like a grocery list written by
a dyslexic serial killer to a story that could make a convict cry and a sailor
blush. You’ll know when you’re done because it’ll be your new favorite novel.
Follow on Twitter at
Like Grant Scotland on Facebook at
Visit his Amazon Author page at
http://amzn.to/2hKIGz8
KINDLE COUNTDOWN SALE
Spy for a Greedy Villain (Adventures of Grant
Scotland, Book Four):
Kindle Countdown Deal
1/4 - 1/7 @ $0.99
1/7 - 1/11 @ $1.99
Spy for a Dead Empire (Adventures of Grant Scotland,
Book One):
Kindle Countdown Deal
1/11 - 1/14 @ $0.99
1/14 - 1/18 @ $1.99
Spy for a Troubled King (Adventures of Grant
Scotland, Book Two):
Kindle Countdown Deal
1/18 - 1/21 @ $0.99
1/21 - 1/25 @ $1.99
Spy for a Wayward Daughter (Adventures of Grant
Scotland, Book Three):
Kindle Countdown Deal
1/25 - 1/28 @ $0.99
1/28 - 2/1 @ $1.99
GIVEAWAY
){kind=link}