New Year, New You – Write that Book

With every new year comes a fresh start, and what better time to start writing your book than now. Between writing your book, editing it and finding a publisher, writing can be overwhelming and stressful. The key to reaching your writing goals this year is to make it an achievable task that fits into your schedule.

To help you with writing your book, I’ve listed four helpful tips:

1.       Set a reasonable deadline – Whether the deadline is for your first draft or for publication, make sure it is reasonable. If you are aiming to write a novel in a month, writing can quickly escalate from a fun passion to a daunting chore. Plus, with a reasonable deadline there is always the chance that you will finish ahead of schedule, increasing the sense of achievement you will already be feeling from writing your book.

2.       Outline your plot and characters – Writing your book can be as easy as you make it. In an earlier writing tip from WestBow Press, it was suggested that you really know your characters before you start writing your book. By taking the time to outline your plot and characters, writing your book will be like filling in the blanks.

3.       Make a schedule and stick to it – Like your deadline, your schedule should be reasonable to prevent yourself from falling behind. When making your schedule, remember that quality is better than quantity and it is not imperative to write every day. With a reasonable schedule, you  can always change your schedule as the writing process progresses.   

4.       Schedule time to edit – If you already have editing time scheduled, it will not take time away from focusing on the task at hand: writing your book. By editing your work on a different day than you wrote it, you will be more likely to catch any errors or typos. You can save time at the end of the writing process if you set aside one day a week to edit your work.

Writing your book does not need to become a new stressor in your life. Use these tips to help keep writing your book a fun and enjoyable task.