I'm writing a book!
 

I've been wanting to write a book since I was 9 (I turn 30 on May 26th) but I've never been able to come up with a story. Then I attended a show called Las Vegas Tenors on December 16th and they happened to have Clint Holmes singing (never heard of him before and I have almost 7 years in Vegas). He sang a song that inspired me to write a story. When I finished the story I realized there was no "point" to it... it was just a telling of events. I then got the inspiration of making the story part of a bigger story arc, and that's what I'm working on now. I have ~9700 words and I'm about 30% done (of the current outline I have, it may get expanded later). I like to keep track of the words because it's a measure that -something- is being created. I like scrolling through it and taking a long time to get to the end.

12/16: Inspiration hits
Somewhere between 12/16 and 1/12: Came up with expansion #1
1/12: 10,000 words
1/13: Came up with expansion #2

Congratulations, GatorDeb! You've succeeded in the first step! I just want to say this first off. Don't force yourself into a specific number of pages. Write the story and let it determine how long it is. It might turn out to be a book and it might not. That's probably not the advice you want to hear. It is daunting. I've written two books. One was very short 192 pages and the other ended up being 345 handwritten pages. The one that was longer was a result of the story, honestly. I was in my teens when I wrote both of those and I just let the story take me and I pretty much chronicled the story as it came to me. Your goal of a page and a half a day is a good one. I typically like to write 2 pages but settle for 1 if that is what I get. One thing I notice when reading is how much writers devote to the inner thoughts of people. Write it from the character's perspective and get their thoughts and feelings in certain circumstances. Stories are always better when we like the characters and can relate to them anyway. Know at least some semblance of your direction. You don't need to know everything that is going to happen. That's half the fun in the journey anyway. Every chapter should be like a mini-novel. There should be a conflict and a progression to resolve that conflict. That keeps things interesting. Conflict keeps the story progressing and pulls the reader along. Good luck and keep us updated!

It was a dark and stormy night....

ceeece the problem is what if the whole book is 40 pages :( I think a book has to be at least 250 pages to be a fiction book, but I despair that I won't have enough to say.

I'm on page 10 :D

Good luck with this.

Didn't you write the first paragraph <A HREF="http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198221" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none">in 2002</a>?

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rotfl

I've started and abandoned writing the book several times. That time I was going with another story. I've been wanting to write a book since I was 9 so that was 20 years ago.

Good luck. For what it's worth, you're writing a manuscript. It's not a book until, well, it's a book.

Word count is what you should look for, not page count. For most novels, 60k words would be the minimum, with most books weighing in at closer to 100k.

Good luck!

Good luck - I remember you IMing me in 2002 with those first paragraphs!

Is this really how people become authors? I thought it was more like : concept --> outline --> details --> write. Not: 1.5 pages --> 1.5 pages -->1.5 pages...... :shrug:

I echo what everybody said about not trying to force your story into a page count or word count. Let the story take as long as it needs to tell itself.

Also, don't try and force a certain number of pages each day. You can't apply rock solid rules to the creative process - it just doesn't work that way. Over the course of writing the book, you might average 1.5 pages each day, but that doesn't mean you actually do 1.5 pages each day. One day you might do 1, the next 3.

Both of the above points have one thing in common - you're thinking about quantity, not quality. Just tell your story.

One tip - don't go back and reread/proofread what you wrote the day before. You'll never move forward. Just plow right through to the end.

Good luck on the project. Just remember that even though it seems like it has all been said before, there is always something new to say.

Then why would you write a 300-page story? If you don't have a story worth telling even to you, it's just a waste of time.

Agreed. The world is full of awful (usually unpublished or vanity published) books that were motivated by the thought of "I want to write a book" without anything more than that. The only reason to write a book is because you have a story you need to tell.

If you don't need to tell the story, don't tell it.

Good books come from the soul.

Well I got 9.5 single-spaced pages then kind of quit on it. About to start on it again. I really want to write it by my birthday and have a family member open it. They don't know I'm writing it.

I bought an Asus EEE PC, and it should be here in less than a week. I'm not allowed to have laptops at work but when it gets warmer (late January) I plan to go to my car on my lunch hour and work on my book. I also go to shows a lot, and usually take the DS. Now I can take the ASUS and write a few pages while I wait for the show to start. I like the Eee because it's very portable and it's designed to be taken anywhere.

So 100k words would about 166 of my pages (about 600 words per page). 60k would be about 100 pages. I'm a tenth of the way done :D I guess I don't feel that hopeless now, it doesn't seem like it has to go on forever.

Is the book about your family?

Good luck! I've written six books and can advise you thus: carve out a wedge of time every day to work on it. An hour is enough. If you write 20 words or 1000 words, doesn't matter. An hour a day. A good trick is always to give yourself something to look forward to the next day. So if you're writing something really exciting, and the hour comes to an end, stop. You've put the hour in. Then the next day you're going to look forward to getting back into it. Don't just wait until you're bored or tired to stop writing. Stop when the designated time is up. Even if you're in the middle of a sentence.

No, I have three fiction storylines and I'm going with one of them. I want to write an autobiography but I want it to be published post-humously.

I heard that a burrito really gets the creative juices flowing.

You're WAAAAAY too focused on word counts an page counts. Read what others in this thread are telling you. You need to tell your story, and you need to take just exactly as long as it takes to do so.

It almost seems to me like you're more concerned about the end product than you are about the process. What is the point of "writing a book" if it's just an exercise in reaching a page count? Write a great story that speaks to you, and let it take exactly as many pages as it requires. If someone wants to publish and make it a book, that's great. But if you're doing nothing but producing pages of text ... ask yourself why. It isn't going to matter if you nail the ideal length for a paperback if nobody wants to read it.

Couldn't disagree more.

Well I know exactly the story I want to tell, but then I start thinking it will take 30 pages or so to tell all of it, and that's not a book, and then I get writer's block :( Then nothing comes out. I guess I have to just relax and write a scene at that time. That's what I'm doing now, I'm just writing different disjointed scenes and I'm just filling in between them.

The Eee shipped ! :D

P.S. Are there good sites to (legally) download rlf (Sony Ereader) compatible books about writing? I got a $50 store credit code that is shipping with the ereader so once it gets here I'm getting Stephen King's On Writing for sure (~$5). I've started that book many times and never finished it, so it'll be great to have it with me on the go at all times.

Couldn't disagree with YOU more.

I salute you. I always wanted to be a writer, always had a lot of stories and ideas and thoughts to write but I am not a very good writer.

It's not a book if it's 3,000 words or 3,000,000 words. It's a manuscript. And there's absolutly nothing wrong with writing a short story or a novella. If your story takes 30 pages to tell, that's exactly how long it should be.

Yes, I think that's clear. Is this just some absurd last-word thing?

:hscratch: If I had a story to tell, I don't see how I could know that "it will take 30 pages or so to tell all of it." You're focused on page counts, not on telling a story. And any story can be any length by adding character development, subplots, background info, scenery and motivation buildup, etc.

Honestly, it sounds like you have no clue what it means to write. You appear to just want to want to "make a book." Be careful, you might just end up with a neglected manuscript.

Well I ran out of steam at 18 pages and gave it up. Then I went to a Vegas show and got the inspiration for a short story. Emphasis on short story. Two weeks later I have 22 pages written and I'm still going full-steam ahead.

There you go. This sounds a lot more promising to me, for a few reasons. You've got inspiration and a story to tell, and the determination to tell in in exactly as many words as you need to.

Good luck. I'm certain you'll find that writing something for the story will be a lot more rewarding than writing for the vague notion that you want to write a book.

It is certainly more fun :D I keep emphasizing that it's a short story and not a book. The only reason I even keep tabs of pages it's because it's a physical measure that something's being produced.

This morning I actually came up with something that I can do for part 2 and also 3 once I get this part done.

I have the introduction pretty much done. No writing today because I work nights and I have a little 2-hour shindig to attend to with the family, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I do have the next section all planned out in my head already so it's just a matter of hammering it out.

Well, I'm up to 6500 words or around 25 pages.

I got a point where I told a story but there was no 'point' to the story... i.e. I was just telling a series of events. Driving home I got the idea of turning it into an episode of something like Tales From The Crypt, with five parts (not all of them will be the same length) and I'm just about done with part 1 and starting part 2. So there's still no 'point' to the story (i.e. moral) but it's creepy :D

I can't see it taking 60k words, but who knows.

Seeker sent you an message... did you get it?

Got the eee PC and was able to write a few pages while waiting for a friend's graduation, and I have an hour wait tonight while I wait for "The Producers" to begin, so I should be able to hammer out a few pages today.

Edit: Up to 7984. That means I wrote about 1484 words today... inspiration hit. But the best part is that I have the framework of the story so all I have to do now is just write and fill in the details.

htat's like 35 double spaced pages. if that''s 30%, you're writing a story, not a book. maybe a novella....but not a book.

I edited the first post weeks after I posted the thread. I started with a short story. Now it's getting to be a longer story. Once I finish the current outline we'll see what else I come up with.

Gator,

I am envious. I have had the idea to write some stories for a long time, with my goal to get a book written before I turn 30. I just turned 35 this year. Guess what. I don't have a book written. I have a fair amount of short stories though, so at least my time wasn't completely wasted.

I feel that I do have something of more weight to tell, so I might use you as inspiration (or at least catalyst) to get going again. Who knows what the result will be?

On a side note: do you want somebody to proof-read your work and comment on it? Not that I am a reference in that field, but I'd love to read what an "amateur" could write and see if I can write on the same level.

It's official, I've passed 10,000 words !!! :D Yay go me! :D

Started on December 16th.

Sorry I'm not really sharing it with Internet people.

I still want to finish the story by my birthday and have it bound. I'm going to wrap it up and addressed to me but the From will be blank. Then when I'm opening presents I'll wait until someone hands me that one and I'll someone else to open it, and I'll insist, and then sit back and enjoy their faces when they hold a "book" in their hands written by me :D For someone who wants to be a writer, it's the best present in the world.

:hscratch:

I think this whole thread is a gag... albeit a very strange one.

Well, 11,144 words and counting. Got the idea for expansion #2 yesterday. I think arc 2 is going to be about 40% of part 1 (as in if part 1 is 100k words part 2 would be an additional 80k words, to use nice round numbers) (and I'm about 30% done with part 1).

Does anyone know of a good program that helps organize story parts? Now that it's getting to be bigger and bigger it's easy to get lost in it. I don't go chronologically - I write whichever part I'm inspired to write that day. It's been easy to manage up to now but add 40k more words and I can see it being troublesome.

Thanks! :)