How to Write a Book - Start Writing aka Getting over the Fear

​Writing a book is pretty simple. You come up with an idea. Sit down. Start writing.
 
It’s as easy and as incredibly hard as that.
 
I’ve found that the worst part of writing a book is the self-doubt, the fear of not being good enough, the worry that no one will care, that either no one will read your book, or equally horrifying, that lots of people will read it and hate it. You haven’t even typed a word and you’re already planning for its failure.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

You have to stop. Stop thinking ahead, stop planning for disaster. Stop over-thinking in general.
 
Start by setting the tiniest of goals. Don’t try to write a novel, write one page. If that feels too big, write a paragraph. Don’t just aim to write a sentence because you will try to write the most perfect sentence since language was created and it will kill your creativity.
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That sentence, and the ones that follow, probably won’t be the first sentence. It probably won’t even be your first chapter by the end of your edits. My original first chapter started with a version of the recipe books chapter, now it starts in the supermarket. Want to see what I mean? Order The Choice.
 
This is your first draft. It’s meant to be bad. Terrible. A complete travesty to published literature. It’s allowed to be, because no one will ever see it. Not unless you show them - which I’d strongly suggest you don’t.

Photo by MILKOVÍ on Unsplash

You have to get your idea onto the page and let it grow, follow it down blind alleys, discover unexpected twists and turns, figure out what you’re writing, because I can pretty much guarantee it’s not what you think it is.
 
The Choice started out as a gentle baking book, about a woman who liked to cook, but couldn’t because of a law. Technically, that’s still what it’s about, but now there’s much more depth, it’s far darker and more political than I ever intended. It’s the book I was meant to write, but not the story I could ever have gotten to without many (many, many, many) drafts.
 
Throw it onto the page. Type faster than your critical inner editor can shout at you. Type until you wear the letters off your keyboard (I’ve done that twice).

A page a day is a novel by the end of the year. You can do that. Once you get started, you might find you get into the flow, the way I do. You’ll pick up speed, but there are times I still have to trick myself into starting, by just focusing on one page.
 
Things not to worry about:
 

• Spelling
• Punctuation & grammar
• If the idea is any good
• For me where the story is going - I’m a pantser not a planner (I’ll explain more about this in the future) I let the story unfold and then edit it down
• What other people will think
• If anyone else has written something similar
• The title

Make a start, today. Don’t go for perfect. Done is beautiful.

​You'll get there, it works.

Pre-order The Choice, winner of the Good Housekeeping Novel Competition 

The Choice is available to pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones, Book Depository
DETAILS
Published: 26th December 2019
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748