Scott Berkun

How to start writing a book (mailbag)

I get tons of comments/email in response to this post on how to write a book. Here’s another interesting, and life-grounding, question from the mailbag:

I found your website hand thought it was awesome. I watched your videos and decided I could use some advice from you.

My house burnt down 3 weeks ago in Burnsville, Minnesota. I lost a 38 foot RV, a 69 Plymouth Fury Convertible, and monster truck and trailer in the driveway and my 16 years old sons car he worked on so hard and never got to drive. I also lost 5 animals in the fire and that really hurts. I still have my 3 children ages 23, 16 and a 10 year old daughter who is having night mares with all this life changing overnight experience. Guess what? I want to write a book about my life and how it changed so quickly. I am very grateful we are all alive and ok. Like everyone else I dont know where to start. I am living my worst night mare in a hotel gong on a month. We have nothing but the cloths we were wearing that day. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me.

Very sorry to hear about your loss. I do hope there are local government agencies or non-profits that can offer you some assistance. Books aside, I do wish you and your family a better October.

On starting: there is no single easy way to start writing. There are some tricks to try, and I list my take on them in this essay on writing hacks. But everyone is different. How you start doesn’t matter, but if you wait for a perfect easy way to do it, you’ll likely never get started. If that essay doesn’t help, here are some additional tricks:

• Plan to come back. One trick that helps is to remember that the real work in writing is editing. I plan to come back later and revise, cut, rewrite and do all kinds of work later on. The “writing” part is just the beginning and believing this has a freeing effect. When I sit down with a blank page I have no preconceptions. I just start writing and plan to figure it all out later once there are a few pages of rambles and rants to work from.
• Go chronological. In your case you’re writing about things that have happened, or are happening to you. Great. Pick a date, say a week before the fire, and write about what happened every day from them to now. It could be as simple as two or three facts per day, or memories per day, or your recollection of your thoughts on those days, whatever you like. But anchor on time as the spine of your writing. It creates an easy way to divide up your memories, and to trigger thoughts or recollections. You then might choose to go to your family and friends and get their stories and recollections on every day, giving you even more material to work from.
• Keep a notebook with you. Have a place to write down ideas and thoughts about your experience and keep it with you all the time. Your rule should be whenever a thought crosses your mind, no matter how strange or personal, you write it down. Worry later if its good or interesting, but in the moment, commit yourself to writing something down. I have piles of old notebooks, and go through one every few weeks.
• Read other memoirs of experience. Many great writers have written books about their personal experience with tough times. Check out Joan Didion’s The year of magical thinking, about her experience with having two loved ones become seriously ill at the same time. It can help to see how other writers have tackled the same type of writing you’re going through. Worst case, you can critique their handling of personal crisis and write about that :)
• Write every day. Even if it’s just for 5 minutes, even if it’s just a sentence or a few words, sit down and write every single day. You have to get used to how it feels to sit there and that only happens if you put your ass in the chair every single day. Find a slot in your schedule that you can protect (early mornings or late nights often work) and ask family to respect that time.

I hope that helps get you started. Best wishes.

Have a question for the mailbag? Leave a comment or contact me here.

• Posted Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm


• in On writing, mailbag | 1 Comment » |