Some helpful hints to help you make your work the best it can be . . .
Plan First
Before you start writing your book you should spend some time planning. There is no one way to do this, it will take time and trial and error to figure out what works best for you. However some things to consider –
- You should know the genre of the book you are writing.
- Know your audience! Who is your book aimed at? This will make a difference in the way you write it. A book for young children would not be the same as a book for teenagers.
- You should be able to write a short summary of your book’s storyline, something similar to what you would find on the back cover of a book.
- You should plan out the major plot points of the story to make sure that it flows and that you have a clear picture of where your story is heading and how it will end. You may make some detours along the way but your book should have a clear path to follow before you begin writing.
Who, Where, When, What, Why and How
These six basic questions cover everything you need to make your story successful!
- Who – who is my story about? Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys?
- Where – where is my story set? Sometimes this is not important to the story other times it will be vital.
- When – when does my story take place? Again sometimes this may be important other times it may be incidental.
- What – what is my story about? This is the major one! Most of your time planning will focus on this question so make sure you are clear in your head of exactly what is going to happen in your story.
- Why – why do the things in my story happen? This links in with what, once you know the what spend some time thinking about the why, this will help you to flesh out your story.
- How – how are my characters going to solve the problem in the story, or react to the events around them? Again this links in with the what, once you know what your story is about, and why the things in your story are happening, you can think about the how.
Make sure when you are doing your planning you cover each of these areas.
Characters
Take some time to flesh out your main characters, both the protagonist (the good guy) and the antagonist (the bad guy). Not only should you know your characters well before you start writing, you should know exactly why they do what they do, but you should also consider how they are going to develop throughout the story. Character development is an important part of any book, your characters should grow and change based on whatever they experience in your story. Some aspects of your characters to consider –
- The character’s age
- Their physical description, things like hair colour, eye colour, short or tall, big or small, complexion, freckles, curly or straight hair?
- Their family background, this should play a part in why your character is the way they are or does the things they do. Think of things such as did your character have parents who were married or divorced when they were a child, do they have siblings, were they adopted, did they grow up in foster care, were there any specific things they experienced as a child that would have impacted them?
- Their personality, things like are they a happy person or a sad person, do they stand up for themselves or are they the kind of person who would be bullied, do they like to argue, are they creative, are they a dreamer, do they get angry easily, are they laid-back, are they vain?
Setting
If where your story is set is going to play an important role in your storyline then make sure you offer lots of descriptions about it. Be specific, don’t assume that people will know what certain places are like, so explain. For example if you are setting your story near a beach in England most beaches have pebbles or stones instead of sand, but if you are setting your book near a beach in Australia most beaches have white sand.
Research
To write a book you don’t have to be an expert on everything that is going to happen in your story. However you do want to make sure that you get things right, so if you don’t know about something you want to write about then research it! The internet is a great tool for doing this, and so is building up a group of people who are experts in particular fields that you can go to in order to ask questions. For example if you want to write about a certain type of chemical in your book then maybe go and talk to your science teacher. If you want to write about a specific medical condition, then talk to your doctor. If you are going to use people to help you research for your book then make sure you are always considerate, make a time that is convenient for them to sit down and ask your questions, always thank them, and remember to add them into the acknowledgements section of your book.
Descriptions
Be descriptive! Remember your writing should create a picture in your reader’s minds of what is happening in the story, just as if they were watching it play out in a movie or TV show. So make sure your descriptions are specific, make sure you add in plenty of adjectives, although you also don’t want to go overboard, perhaps two or three adjectives is sufficient to describe something. Also make sure that you don’t get stuck using the same adjectives over and over again, a thesaurus is an excellent tool to help you out when you get stuck and can’t think of a different word to use to describe something.
Finished writing
When you’ve finished writing your book make sure you read it through to look for any potential issues, grammatical errors as well as any storyline problems. Once you are happy with it then it’s time to get someone you trust (parents, siblings, friends, teachers) to read it for you. Ask them to give you feedback, does the storyline flow well, are there any problems with it, are your characters fully developed and engaging, do they have any suggestions to make. You don’t have to take on board all suggestions offered, but do think about them, as sometimes we are too emotionally involved in our work to notice any issues, so consider everything suggested to you but in the end it’s your story so you have to be happy with it. Ask them to check for grammatical errors as well as some always slip through!
If you would like to ask any questions or ask for help with your planning or writing then please do not hesitate to contact us at
bearspotspublications@gmail.com