I want to write a book, where do I start?

Remastered from Three Ways To Start Writing A Book 2020 YouTube Script 

When I first began my public writing journey through Social Media, a couple of my personal friends reached out to me with a question. They had always been interested in writing a story but didn’t know where to start. 

The good news is that there is no single good way to start writing a story. The bad news is there is no single good way to start writing a story. 

This can be difficult for people first starting out and looking for guidance. It is important to find what is going to work best for you as you develop your craft. Because every writer works a little differently.

But here is what I do to help me get started on a new story. 

Before I get into the list, I will add a tip: write about what you like, not what you think will sell. The industry is constantly changing, there really is no way to tell what will trend within the time you start and finish writing a book. And you will have more passion in your project if it is a story you want to write.

Create A Main Character

Character development is one of my favorite aspects of storytelling. In my opinion, this is the simplest way to write a story based on the ideas in this list. Because you don’t need to know the plot yet. In fact you don’t need to know anything except “who is the main character?” You don’t even need to know who they are going to become at the end of the story. All you have to think of is 

Who are they at the beginning of the story? 

What is their name?  

What do they look like?

What are some character traits that they have?

Have a little fun with it! It's like being in a video game and choosing an avatar. Except it's happening in your head and the options are endless. An example of how I used this tactic was for my main character in the Escape the Safehouse trilogy. 

Initially I got the idea of my hero from a girl in my Communications 101 class in college. She looked like she could be a spectacular character for a story. I based a lot of her physical attributes on this classmate. But I didn’t know her personally, so I had the freedom to create a new personality for my character. Eventually it turned into a giant storyline that I fell in love with. Starting out small can lead you to bigger results. 

Write the First Scene

Again, you don’t have to know the whole plot in order to write the first scene. Really all you need to figure out is the genre. Once you have that squared away you have options to catapult you forward. 

A lot of people call this the zero draft because the purpose is to just get the basic idea out on paper. Do not stress about making it perfect because I can promise it will not be the draft that will be the final product. But it will lead you there. 

Think About What the Plot is

Usually I base this on questions that I ask myself, answer, and then create a story off of it. An example of how I first came up with the idea for my science fiction novel Sleepless Wonder I asked myself “What if there was someone who was unable to sleep?” They suffer no consequences, but they physically did not sleep? Would it be amazing to have all this time on your hands? Or would it be frustrating that you wouldn't get to rest like everyone else? Could it potentially be dangerous?

Just keep on asking and answering all of these questions and you will start figuring out the plot. It doesn’t have to be completely developed yet (unless that is what you prefer). Regardless of what you decide to do if you are a hardcore plotter or if you are a pantser you will make connections and changes with your plot along the way.

Congratulations! You now have an official idea for a story. 

Next step, get organized. There are common strategies of how to set up a plot structure (Save The Cat, Three Act Story Structure, The Hero's Journey etc.) but for now you can celebrate that you have begun the incredible and long journey of making your story come to life.