How to Write a Book

People often tell me they would love to write a book, but they don’t know where to start. The best advice I can give is to sit down and start writing... and let the book start itself.

The thing is, some books don’t start at the beginning. They start at the end, or the middle, or just some random page in between. Sometimes they start with just a tiny seedling of an idea, like a scrap of thought almost too ephemeral to catch hold; other times they spring forth nearly fully grown, and it’s a race to see if you can get all the words written before they die of old age.

A good book is happening all around you, every day, every moment. It’s called life. Not just your own, although some people’s lives would qualify as a good story all on their own. A good book includes many characters and life events, and if you want to write a good story you have to pay attention to those.

A random encounter with a clerk at the grocery store, or maybe just with someone who holds a door for you on a blustery day; those are the characters that should populate your book. A passing comment overheard in the grocery store can often blossom into a juicy tale, or maybe you can just expound on something you wish would happen to you.

Ultimately, I think if you truly want to write a book, you will. In fact, you probably won’t be able to stop yourself from doing so, no matter what (job, housework, kids, noisy neighbors, floods and icebergs) gets in your way. If I had been on the Titanic and they told me to get on the lifeboat, I probably would have made them wait while I ran back for my notebook and pen.

It’s just what writers do: we write.

Just look at the eight linear feet of filled spiral bound notebooks on my office shelf, or the hard drive filled with my many Word documents, and you will see the proof.

So, if you want to write a book, go buy yourself a new notebook and a good pen. Then... go shopping, or bowling, or take a cruise to Alaska. It doesn’t matter much; just go out and live, and then... write it down.