Just Write the Book...

I can't even count how many times since I wrote my first book that someone has said "I've always wanted to write a book."

I always say the same thing. Do it. You have it in you. All you need to do is get it out on paper. It isn't magical. It isn't like winning the lottery. It's just getting it out of your head and onto paper... virtual or smashed trees, your choice.

A couple of years ago I had my "put up or shut up" moment. Luckily, it was an internal dialogue, but the result was that I decided to write a book. I had said (to myself) that I could write a better book than some of the crap I was reading, so I decided I'd try.

I sat down one night and started smacking away at the keyboard. That is step one... write something. Anything.

1. Write something. Write anything. Even if it is loaded with typos and factual errors. It will NOT be perfect and it will NOT be your final draft unless you make it the final draft.

I set out to write a science fiction story. It was all laid out in my head. Ok, not "all". But parts. I had part of it laid out in my head. I started beating on the keyboard. (I should mention that I am NOT a good typist).

By page three, my characters had taken my story hostage, killed it and were off on their own thing. My funny, sciency, fantasy story was turning into a crime thriller.

That taught me step three... that I needed to be ready to go with it.

2. Go with the flow. Be ready to alter your preconceived story to better suit your characters. You WANT your characters to take on a life of their own. Let them. Like kids... It's sweet when they are cute and little but they need to learn how to cook, do laundry and move out, creating their own lives. Let them.

I spent a little while trying to rope them back in and get them to behave, but they weren't having it, so I gave up and wrote what they told me. I think they had a better story for me than I had for them.

It did leave me with some problems, though. I call them "artifacts". In my case, these were little pieces of the discarded story that stuck around but were no longer useful. In Planning Vengeance (my first book), the hero, Jack, got a computer for his birthday. This was central to the rest of the story. It was the REASON for the rest of the story.

Since I'm sure you followed the link, bought the book and read it between paragraphs, I can spill the secret. The computer wasn't in the book. He got a camera instead. The story changed, the computer wasn't needed, but the camera was. It actually became the basis for more stories in the series.

There were other artifacts, too. I had to ruthlessly hunt down the anachronisms that didn't belong. While doing that, I found other problems. One is that I suck at typing.

Lesson three came from the hunt for anachronisms and other things that didn't belong.

3. Typos suck. But they ARE a fact of life. Find them. Kill them. Get others to help you find and kill them. Like roaches in a run down truck stop, they will keep popping up, though.

My nature has always been perfectionism. I had to let that go. I have published five books, and none are, were or ever will be perfect. If I waited until they were perfect, nothing would be done. There is always a better word or a mistake to be found. There is always a tweak to be made.

If you have a 100,000 word book (about where I usually am) and you have a thousand typos (a REALLY high number by the time to hit submit), that is still 99% right. My beta readers usually find about fifty... and I usually find another fifty after I think we are all done. So... 99.9% is not terrible.

As a side note, I was reading a book from a big author... one that pays big bucks for people to read his books for mistakes... one that PRINTS thousands of copies right off the bat. I found ten typos. No, it isn't that I'm that good or his professionals are that bad. They are freaking cockroaches under the durn floor.

Which let me know the fourth thing... perfection is the enemy of good.

4. God doesn't make mistakes, but we do. Live with it. Accept it and resolve to do better.

Which brings up a very good point. None of us are perfect. But together, we can be pretty good. To combat my imperfections, I need help. Aside from therapy over a burrito with a friend, I enlist the aid of "Beta Readers". These are like the Guardian Angels of authors.

I send them my wonderful, typed file of perfection. It is clear of typos, factual errors and story issues of any sort. They send me a LONG list of specific things that were somehow missed in my chicken wire of a fine-comb filtration system.

One of the (almost) actual comments from a beta reader of my first book was that my main character was a weenie that didn't deserve to get the girl, until the day he "magically and unbelievably" turned into a Terminator bad-ass. She told me I might wanna look at that.

And the bruise to my ego that comment left... ouch. But, it was something I needed to know and correct, like Gary Busey's hair.

Just to make sure I felt the sting, though, she also included dozens of typos. And some chronological impossibilities. That one reader took my game up a LOT of notches. I got some ice for my ego and set out to fix my mistakes and correct my issues. I took care of the book, too.

Along the way I learned step five... to take some notes.

5. Keep track of your characters like a Hollywood stalker. Know what they wear, the color of their hair, who they like and don't like, and what color eyes they have.

I use Evernote and Excel. In Evernote, each of my characters has a note. There is (usually) a picture of them as they should be in the book. I search around in images looking for the "type" of person I want the character to be and attach that to their file.

As a little side, if my computer were forensically searched, they would be looking at me sideways. "Why is this guy looking for a _______?" It's only marginally odd when the character in question is a 29 year old hot, blonde woman.

Excel I use mainly to track dates. In my primary series, Broken Path, I use specific dates. All four books are laid out with exact dates. Where stories may cross, I have to know what happened on June 13th, 1981. (Jack went to dinner with his friends Terry and Sherry before going to Amy Prince's party, where they FINALLY get have a conversation and figure that they both really like each other).

It would not work if in another story, or the same event being told from a different perspective, major differences were to show up. And after you go through a 300 page book a few times looking for that one date, name, description or whatever, you figure out that the extra time to stop and take a few notes might be worth it.

Maybe it isn't for your type of story, but for mine, it is... I wish I had figured that out sooner.

So... here's the deal. I said I would help. I didn't just mean by writing a short list of things I learned. I meant I would really help. I'll read your story. I'll give you feedback. I will spot some (not all) typos and give you a list. I won't charge a solitary penny (or a bunch of pennies taped together).

All I would ask is that you beta read for someone else. Give them feedback (that would be helpful feedback, like "this wraps up too easily. the main character is hanging by his fingertips, losing grip and dying from oxygen starvation... how did we skip to him sitting in a bar in Key West with a margarita and a pair of Flight Attendants?"... rather than "your story suck, dude")

My blog is LaneBailey.info. You can get a FREE ebook for subscribing (also FREE). You can contact me on MeWe, too. Please say something more than "Hello" or I'll think you are a spammer.

I can't promise on speed... if a thousand people send me manuscripts, I'll be reading for a long time... but I will do my best. Truthfully, if a thousand people send me manuscripts, I'll probably have a few drinks, then start introducing people to each other to make it happen faster. It comes back to #2... going with the flow and making adjustments.

Thank you for reading.