How to Write a Book for the First Time
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Are you wondering how to write a book for the first time? I’m breaking it all down in today’s post…
Step 1: Decide if you’re going to outline
Some writers outline, and others swear against it. I teach what I do myself, which is somewhere between outlining and pantsing. (Pantsing in the writing world just means writing by the seat of your pants.)
I make what I call a story map, which is basically a very sparse outline. A story map is creating a destination for my main character.
This may be a physical destination, but it certainly doesn't have to be—it's a climactic event. It’s the moment of reckoning, the climax, the big battle, the confrontation scene. I set a destination and move toward that destination using scenes like lily pads, leaping from one to the next.
I love method not only when writing a book for the first time, but every time.
It’s important to note, however, that different approaches work for different writers. You want to find a process that works for you, and that should be a process that limits your feelings of chaos and anxiety while giving you an expansive sense of openness and freedom.
If you Google interviews of any writer you love, you can probably find information on how that writer approaches writing. What kind of approach sounds appealing to you? What lights you up?
The other night I went to an online book launch event for Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. Rodham is a fictionalized history of Hillary Clinton's life. Sittenfeld was being interviewed by Roxanne Gay, another writer I love.
The question of outlining came up in their conversation, and they revealed two opposite approaches: Curtis Sittenfeld outlines every project. Roxanne Gay, however, doesn't outline at all. She just writes and likes to see where the story takes her.
Every writer is different, and as you write a book for the first time, you will find something that works for you.
If you're interested in hearing more about my process of using a story map, check out my course, the book incubator.
Step 2: Let the writing tell you what it is
A writer I was working with kept going back and forth between whether her project was a collection of short stories or a novel.
She asked for advice on how to get a draft done when the structure kept changing.
“How do I write a book for the first time if I’m not sure what type of story I’m writing?” is a common question for first-time writers.
Here’s my thought on this: it doesn't matter. You don't have to decide right now. It can be both; it can be neither (more on that in a moment), but the point is that this question does not have to affect your writing of the first draft.
Write the book that wants to be written, and go from there.
I want to interpret this question in relation to another question that I get a lot: Should I write a memoir or a fictionalized version of my life (a.k.a. a novel)?
This question comes up a lot for people writing a book for the first time who may find the idea of a memoir daunting, either because the writer is afraid of what family will think, or because it’s about a period of life that is still very tender and difficult to write about.
First, to the concern about what family will think, remember that you're never under any obligation to publish anything you've written. Write it, and then decide.
Second, in regard to the tenderness of the topic...that’s tougher. When I’m not writing or teaching writing, I teach storytelling for the Moth, and we have a saying there: Tell stories from our scars, not our wounds. This idea is to protect you from unearthing what isn't ready to be unearthed.
But as to whether what you’re writing is a novel or memoir, I would say, again, that you don’t need to decide at first. Let the writing tell you what it is. If as you write, you find that you're fictionalizing large chunks of the story, then that's telling you something—maybe you aren’t ready to write a nonfiction story. On the other hand, if you find that writing the story as it truly happened to you is easy to do, then maybe you are ready to write the memoir, and you can decide later what to do with it.
It’s important to go with what feels like it's working because it's exciting for you. It's fun, rather than over any notion of what you should be doing. There are trends and it's savvy to be aware of those publishing trends, but I would never let them dictate what you choose to write because your best writing is going to be writing that excites you with energy, heart, and enthusiasm behind it.
For more tips on structuring your book, check out my free, one-year masterclass on this topic.
Step 3: Plan how to research for your book by using a hierarchy
At my online Privilege launch party this past spring, a question came up about how I research for a book.
My answer was: defensively.
What do snacking, Instagram, and research have in common? They're excellent distractions when you should be writing (if you're me, at least).
Research is tricky—when it comes to creating a fictional world with which you aren't familiar, you need to do it well enough that you aren't feeling your way through the dark, of course.
If you're going to create a world, you need to know that world backwards and forwards, and not just for the sake of the story.
Lack of adequate research can lead to accusations—reasonably—that you've relied on stereotypes and misunderstandings rather than doing your homework. And that's, well, a writer's worst nightmare, no?
But also, research so easily becomes a tool of procrastination, a rabbit hole: "I know I'm not writing, but I'm researching! That's a pre-req!"
Here's why I said "defensively": The most important thing when it comes to writing a first draft is...writing it. Not researching for it. Writing it.
I can't tell you how many people have told me, "I have stacks of research material" or "I've been researching this book for years," but they haven't yet started. When you’re writing a book for the first time, it can get easy to be swallowed up by the research process.
Here's the thing—I know that I'm going to ditch a lot of what I write in a first draft, so purely in terms of time well spent, it doesn't make sense to devote hours to studying up on the background of a minor character when I might wind up cutting the scene in which he appears.
My suggested approach to research when you’re writing a book for the first time or any time is based on the stage of writing/revision:
Draft 1: I try to do the minimal amount of research for the story to make sense. This means I have some placeholders. The goal is to get the draft done.
Draft 2: I do more research to fill in gaps.
Draft 3 and beyond: The "real" research—I do deep dives as needed to ensure accuracy
When you're working on a first or early draft, thinking of research as a necessary, minimal obligation will keep it from becoming a creative cul de sac, distracting you from finishing. Plus, I often call to mind this quote from Jonathan Franzen: "When information becomes free and universally accessible, voluminous research for a novel is devalued along with it." (Hi, Internet.)
Good luck on writing a book for the first time! You don’t have to know everything yet when you begin. The important thing is to begin.