You’ve probably been dreaming of this day for as long as you can remember. The day you write that perfect novel that will make your friends and family proud of you, the day you become an overnight success, the day you finally say goodbye to the days of working hard for a living.
That day has finally arrived. You’re an independent, educated woman / man, and you have a novel in you. You’ve been writing for a couple of years, but have only been publishing on online platforms. Now you’ve finally decided to take the plunge and commit to paper. Good for you!
But, wait.
You’re scared. Maybe you’re even scared a little bit nervous. The idea of committing to paper and actually following through scares you a little. What if you don’t like what you write? What if your friends and family don’t like what you write?
We’re not here to judge you. We’re here to help. Below, you’ll discover the secrets to writing a book and making money online from a fountain pen (or laptop or iPad). Fear not, author! We’ve got you covered.
Set A Goal
The first step to successfully writing a book is to set a goal. What do you hope to achieve with this creative endeavor? Are you writing for pleasure, to impress your friends, or to make money?
The answers to these questions will determine how you approach writing the book. Setting a goal will also help you to measure your progress. If you don’t know where you stand, it’s hard to know where you’re heading.
Research
Before you begin writing, you must do your research. When it comes to creative writing, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions. One of the most popular myths is that you need to start with a complete draft before you can begin revising. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is you can start revising as soon as you’ve got a draft, and continue adding to it until you’ve got a near perfect manuscript.
Myths like this can cause lots of problems for writers. They keep you from starting with a blank page and having fun with it. Instead, you start out with a complete and utter mess. Then you go through and you fix all the mistakes that you’ve made along the way. After a while, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered to start out with a rough draft in the first place.
Organize
If you’re writing a book as a hobby or for fun, you don’t need to form too much of an organization. Just write when you feel like writing, and take breaks when you need breaks.
If you’re looking toward making money, then you might want to consider organizing your work. The key to writing something commercially viable is to keep the flow of ideas continuous. If you stop and start over again, it can often lose its charm for the reader. For this reason, you should try to write in a linear fashion. Take your time with this stage, and make sure that you follow all the rules of good writing.
Choose A Pen
You’ve probably heard the expression ‘write what you know’. This is more than likely because most people don’t know how to write. They think that you need to be an expert in order to write. Fortunately for you and your book, this simply isn’t true. All you need is a pen. Any pen will do, as long as it feels comfortable in your hands and is capable of producing the right amount of ink when written with.
There are a number of reasons why most people avoid writing with a pen. Some people think that they’re not proficient enough. Others think that the act of writing with a pen is too much work. They believe that they’ll mess up and have to start over again. Still others think that paper will deteriorate over time and lose its value.
In reality, any of these concerns are unfounded. As long as you have a pen, you can write. You don’t need to be an expert. In fact, if you’re writing for enjoyment, you probably don’t need to organize your work at all. Just write what you want to write, and don’t worry about whether or not it’s good enough.
Make Copies
It’s very unlikely that you’ll write the perfect manuscript the first time around. This is especially true if you’re writing on a laptop. If you’ve got a good bit of information that you feel like you need to lock away for safe keeping, it’s best to make copies of it. You can scan the pages and send them as digital copies through email or store them on a disk.
Writing a book isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time, and it’s not something that you can just walk away from. However, if you’re serious about writing a book, then you should consider all the necessary steps to ensure that it’s done correctly. Remember, a good writer is never truly done, because there’s always the possibility of a fresh idea coming in to save the day. So, even when you think that you’ve got everything you need, there’s still more to be discovered.