Planning, writing, and putting together a book is an exciting and challenging process! There are several ways to accomplish or complete the act of writing a book. Take control of the entire creative process - from drawing to binding - and push yourself beyond your artistic limits.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Come up with ideas
Step 1. Choose a topic
Grab a notebook and pencil (a computer will work too) and make a list of possible topics. Write by hand or type any idea that comes to mind. Remember that the most mundane idea could turn into an incredible story! Your topic could be as general as "a children's book about a zebra" or as specific as "a historical fiction novel about the courtship of George and Martha Washington." At this stage in the process, every idea will be good! If you have a hard time coming up with ideas, take inspiration from your own life. What are your interests? Do you have a secret passion for car racing or anime? Get ideas from your childhood memories. Tailor your first trip to the zoo or your first swimming lesson. After creating a list of possible topics, choose one that grabs your attention. You'll spend the next few weeks, months, or years writing about it, so pick one that excites you!
- To determine if your idea will continue to be interesting, write a presentation speech that talks about your topic and is short and direct. If it sounds innovative, exciting, or interesting, it will be a great story!
- If you're having trouble coming up with a topic or narrowing your list to one, step back for a moment. Stop thinking about the book when exercising, shopping, or completing chores around the house. When you feel ready to tackle the task, go back to the list with a fresh mind, refocused and revitalized!
Step 2. Identify your audience
This could give your book some direction and focus. You shouldn't write the same story for children, young adults, and seniors. The plot of a children's book would be much less complex than that of an adult novel. After choosing your ideal age group, determine which faction of it will be your target audience. Will your reader be a man or a woman? Does your ideal reader like mystery, suspense, romance, or science fiction? Once you identify your audience, create fictitious reader profiles. Give your fictional readers a name and background. Write down their age, gender, educational level, likes and dislikes, and hobbies. Keep their profiles close at hand during the brainstorming and writing process. You will notice that you will ask yourself questions like "Would Jason like this character?" or "Would Estefany laugh at this phrase?"
Step 3. Develop your characters
Your characters will bring your story to life! Create interesting characters that can advance the plot. Create a complex, fantastic protagonist and brilliant antagonist. It also develops secondary characters! Create a detailed profile for each character you create. Find or draw a picture for the character. Don't just provide superficial details. It will not be enough to indicate that a character is tall, blond and that he is a lawyer. This information will provide limited insight into your personality! Instead, it provides information about your family history, your academic career, your job, your worst fear, your favorite foods, etc. Keep these profiles handy while you write. Spending time on minor details (the little things like blemishes) will make your characters more interesting and relate to readers!
Step 4. Make the outline of the book
Writing a book of any length requires planning! Outlines will help you stay focused throughout the writing process and will prevent you from straying from the plot. Be creative and use your strengths. If you are a visual person, develop a storyboard. If you are a more logical person, develop an outline organized by headings and subheadings, main and minor points. When creating your outline, keep in mind that each plot has 5 sections: an inciting incident, complications, a climax, an anticlimax, and a conclusion. Build your story arc around these five sections. Develop an incident that drives the story of the book. Create complications that test the protagonist. Create a climax that brings the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist to a climax. Tie up loose ends during the anticlimax. Bring the book to a conclusion in the conclusion.
- You could also create a flowchart, use bullets, write on index cards, or create a concept map.
- Sometimes it will help to create an outline in several ways. Each type of schema will force you to think a little differently throughout the story. A storyboard will require you to visualize the plot and characters, while flow charts will require you to consider how one subplot flows into the next.
- Don't look for perfection. The schematics are designed to be a quick sketch of the story!
Step 5. Research the market
Your theme will never be totally new. Do your research on the market to completely avoid reproducing a published work. Find 3-5 books whose subject is similar to yours, and read them. Analyze how the plots differ from yours. Determine if your characters are unique and innovative, and in what way. Identify what makes your book special compared to other suspense or romance works.
- If you have a hard time identifying the individuality of your book, don't panic. Revision is a natural part of the writing process! Get back to your scheme and be willing to make changes to the plot and characters. Your work will be more solid thanks to these modifications!
- Don't be disappointed if you discover a book with a similar plot. There will be nothing that is totally new!
Step 6. Review your outline
Reviews can be stressful and frustrating, but they are always necessary! Review your schematic critically. Does your story progress smoothly? Is the climax exciting? Does the plot reach a logical conclusion? Is the conclusion too obvious? Are there any sections or subplots that deviate from the topic that you need to remove? Are your characters developed enough? Do you need to develop more characters? Is the setting appropriate? Will your audience enjoy the finished product? Work out any necessary changes after critiquing your schematic.
If you feel that you are very close to your work, ask a friend to review it for you. He will be able to identify any gaps in the plot or section that deviate from it
Part 2 of 5: Write and Review
Step 1. Schedule your writing time
It is ideal to write every day, but this is not practical for everyone. Consider your commitments and set a realistic goal. Determine how often you will write. Decide if you will have time to write every day, twice a week, or just once in a while.
You will have more time a few weeks or months. Be flexible. If you see an opportunity to write for an hour, take it
Step 2. Check out a word count
Set yourself a realistic word count for each writing session. This goal is meant to keep you accountable, focused, and on track toward the completion of your job. If you type slowly, your word count could be 1000 words per session. If you can only dedicate an hour to each session and write faster, aim for a count of 1,500 to 2,500 words per session. If you're setting aside 4-8 hours a day for writing, write 5,000-10,000 words per session.
Don't stress about not meeting your goal in the allotted time. Instead, stay positive and try to meet the goal during your next session
Step 3. Write
Find a quiet place free from distractions, and write! Don't stress over the placement of commas or the agreement between nouns and verbs. Just write the words on one page and edit them later. Have the outline, the profiles of the audience and those of the characters on hand in your workspace, in case you need to look for a detail from time to time.
- If you're feeling stuck or having a hard time getting started, join a writing workshop. Talk about your problems with other experienced writers, and get feedback on your work.
- Use a single Word file instead of several. Keeping your work in one place will create a sense of continuity. Also, if you make a plot change that affects one of the first chapters, all you have to do is go back in the same file to make the change.
Step 4. Review, edit, rewrite, and repeat
Open a new Word document and copy and paste your novel into it. This will allow you to keep each version of your work. Read the document at a pace that you feel comfortable with. Some writers like to review in one sitting, while others review their work over the course of a day or a week. Look for typographical and grammatical errors. Pay attention to the flow of the story; Is there a gap in the plot? Is there a scene you need to delete? Is the climax at an appropriate point in the story? Read the dialogue carefully; Does this sound realistic? Does each character have a consistent voice? Is it easy to follow? After reviewing the book once, put it aside for a day before making the next reviews. When you feel confident about the story, you can consider it "finished."
- A work is never quite finished, but at some point you will have to stop trying to perfect it.
- If you have difficulty editing your work critically, ask a colleague, friend, or family member to act as your editor.
Part 3 of 5: Design the book
Step 1. Do your research
The creation of a book encompasses conventions for hundreds of years. Your readers will expect your book to follow them. Before designing your book, find out about the art of creating books! You will learn that each book has a cover and a copyright page. Odd pages should always be on the right and even pages on the left. Text must be justified rather than left-aligned. Take a quick look at about 15-20 books that are produced with similar audiences in mind. Study the formats of the books. Take note of the items you like and don't like.
Step 2. Decide who will create the iconic look for the book
If you are unsure of your design skills, hire a professional book designer. If you don't know much about technology, you can use an online service that gives you a guided design experience and even prints the book for you! If you want to be in control of the entire book design process, create the look yourself. When creating your book, you will take responsibility for each element. Stay organized and detail-oriented throughout the process.
Step 3. Design the book
When creating your book, consider using Microsoft Word or InDesign. Both platforms will allow you to create the book with a template. Build on your research to guide you through the decision-making process. Will your book have a hard or soft cover? What type of letters are you going to use? Where will you put the page number? What format will you give the chapters? How will you incorporate the illustrations? These questions may seem minor to you, but your attention to detail will pay off! After making design decisions, begin creating and styling the book. Feel free to review the design during the process.
Part 4 of 5: Print the book
Step 1. Determine how you are going to print the book
There are several methods for printing a book. You could choose to do it at home. You could decide that you are going to send it to a printer. You could use an online service to print and bind the book. A professional printing service could mass produce your book. Choose the option that is right for your budget and the scale of your print job.
Step 2. Print your children's book at home
Save the book in PDF format. Choose the print option under the file menu. Your book will be short, so you must choose "All" under "Pages to print." Choose the "Brochure" option under the section labeled "Page Size and Management." A secondary menu will appear on the screen. If your printer can print on both sides of the page, choose "Both Sides." If your printer can't do this, choose "Front Only" or "Back Only". You'll need to print the front side, put the sheet back in the printer, and then print the back side. Click on "Print."
Step 3. Print your novel at home
Save your book in PDF format. Choose the print option under the file menu. Select "Pages" under "Pages to Print." You will print your work in smaller sections of 16, 24 or 32 pages. Choose the "Brochure" option under the section labeled "Page Size and Management." A secondary menu will appear on the screen. If your printer can print on both sides of the page, choose "Both Sides." If your printer can't do this, choose "Front Only" or "Back Only". You'll need to print the front side, put the sheet back in the printer, and then print the back side. Click on "Print." Repeat until all remaining sections are printed. Keep the pages separated by section.
It always starts printing on the second page. The first page will be the cover and you must print it separately
Part 5 of 5: Bind the Book
Step 1. Choose how you are going to bind the book
There are several ways to bind a book. If you send your book to a professional printing service or online printing company, the cost of binding will usually be included. If you print your book at a printer, you could request that it be bound as well. You may also choose to bind it at home.
Step 2. Fold, sew and cut the book at home
Fold each page to the center. If you've printed more than one section of pages, keep them separated by section. Re-stack the pages in the correct order. Use a sewing machine to sew a straight line down the folded center of each section of pages. Begin sewing 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) from the top edge of the page; and finish sewing 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) from the bottom edge of the page. Don't trim the loose thread, but leave 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm) at each end. Take a needle and pull the loose threads to the outside of the book. Repeat this process for each section of pages. After sewing all the batches, pull all the loose thread from the inside of the book to the outside of the book with a needle. Trim off any excess paper with a paper cutter.
Step 3. Bind the book
If you have multiple sections, put them in the correct order. Line up all the edges. Use a workbench to secure the book firmly between two pieces of wood. The stitched edges of the book (the side with the loose threads) should point up. Measure and cut a piece of fabric. The fabric should be 2 inches (5 cm) longer than the spine of the book. When you place it on the spine, there should be 2 to 4 inches (5.1 to 10 cm) of fabric on each side, or on the wing of the book. Use a brush to apply a coat of binding glue to the stitched edges of the book and adhere the piece of fabric to the spine. Let the glue dry before removing the bound book.
Step 4. Create a cover
Measure the length of the book and the width of the front, spine, and back cover. Trace 4 pieces of cardboard. The first piece should be the length and width of the cover. The second should be the length and width of the spine. The third piece should be the length and width of the back cover. The room should be the length of the book and the combined width of the front, spine, and back cover. Cut the pieces of cardboard. Use a glue stick to attach pieces 1, 2, and 3 to 4. Fold the fourth piece at the edge of the spine. Let it dry.
Pizza boxes will work great
Step 5. Cover the cardboard with cloth
Use any type of fabric; An extra sheet or set of curtains will do! The fabric should be 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) longer or wider than the book on each side. Fold the excess fabric over the edge of the book and adhere it to the cardboard. Let it dry before gluing the printed front and back covers to it.
Step 6. Assemble the book
When the cover is dry, put on the bound book. Apply a layer of glue to the fabric attached to the spine of the bound book. Make sure to also cover the fabric flaps with glue. Adhere the fabric attached to the bound book to the inside of the spine of the cardboard cover. Press down on the bound book and cover using a work table. The spine should point downward. Wait for the glue to dry before displaying your finished product!