I want to author a book. How do I get started?

Question

I want to author a book. How do I get started?

Answer 1

     Read.  Read everything you can lay hands on.  But there's no reason not to start straight away.  Go to the supermarket, or mall, or anywhere where there are lots of people.  Do some watching.  You might see someone, say a woman, who looks unhappy.  She could be very pretty if she took more trouble with herself.  Ask yourself.  Why doesn't she?  Why does she look unhappy?  Imagine she's sitting across the desk from you.  What would you ask her?  What would she tell you?  Perhaps she opens up and really tells you about how she's just lost a son to leukemia, and/or her husband's left her for another woman.  Before you know it, you have a story.

Hope this has helped.

Good luck

Mike B

Answer 2

b***s by pamela anderson

Answer 3

Read books.  Read lots of books.  

If you don't read, or you don't have time to read, you won't be able to write either.

Pick up a book on writing.

Find one specific to the type of writing you want to do.

Do you want to write fiction?  Nonfiction?

I wanted to write a mystery and found James Frey's "How to write a d**n Good Mystery" to be enormously helpful.

Stephen King's "On Writing" has some good tips, although I found his advice against plotting inadvisable in my case.  

You'll also want to read a grammar reference.  Everyone suggests "Elements of Style," which is a good one.  I like "The Writer's Coach."

Best of luck!

Answer 4

The most obvious answer should be staring you in the face.

You get an idea for a story and write it down.

Try to add a little to it every day.

(Confession time: I'm a published author, and even I don't write *every* day...  I stop and play online games, do email, make supper for two of us, and other around-the-house things, but I try to write a little on at least 5 or 6 days out of the week.  Before you know it, you have another book written and THEN you can start to polish it up.

Ignore people that start picking on whether you used the right word for something or not (like the proper meaning of "author" below).

You will run spelling and grammar checkers later on, when you are ready for that step.

And a good agent will give you free proof-reading to help catch the errors that spelling/grammar-checkers don't catch. (i.e. copyediting and proofreading)

(btw- regardless of what the other answer says, "author" is both a noun and a verb. Any good dictionary will tell you this. You can check http://www.thefreedictionary.com/author )

( The use of the transitive verb, 'to author' with the meaning 'to write' has become outdated and is no longer in common use. The current usage of author as a verb takes the meaning of 'to taken responsibility for' as in "The Representative from Vermont authored a bill through congress.")

Oh, and never, EVER put your story/novel on the internet for people to critique, or send it in email to someone you don't know, just because they butter you up and tell you they would LOVE to read it.  There are people who would steal it in a second, put their name on it, try to publish it and maybe even sue you, claiming you stole their idea.  Other than a legitimate agent, the only other people who should hear or read your story are friends you can trust to not steal your ideas.  Guard it with your life until you have a deal for it with a publisher.  If you want to ask about something, like here on Yahoo-Answers, only paste in a very short section of it and don't tell your whole plot (storyline).

--So--

° Don't bother worrying about agents and commissions, yet.

° Don't worry about whether it is perfect spelling or grammar.

° Just start writing.

° Once you get the first draft of your book done, then you will start to rewrite it -check your spelling and grammar and refine what you wrote the first time into something more saleable.

° You might actually decide some of it just doesn't work and throw it out, --but regardless, it is good practice, and still helped you firm up in your mind what the story is about.

When you decide you want to know more about plots and characters and how to write effectively, you don't have to go out and buy books on the subject, because there is  a ton of web pages that tell you everything you need to know.

[ Virtual web info *is* measured in tons, isn't it? ]

[ Oh, wait, if it is a UK web page, it is measured in tonnes. ]

Ok, humor is not my genre, is it...   hee hee

Let me get you a couple addresses.

Some of the following have blatant ads to buy this or that book or to self-publish your own book (Definitely DIS-agree).  I am not advocating you do any of that.  Just read their free advice about writing tips: (and there are many, many more)

http://www.renaissance.sg/Complete%20Gui...

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/m...

http://www.writerbookie.com/

http://www.squidoo.com/howiwritemymethod...

http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2008/03/on...

http://www.agentquery.com/

http://www.writers.net/agents.html

http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/

I really hope this helps get you on the right track.  There is so much bad advice out there a new person can hardly tell what's right, except by comparing a lot of different sources.

Good Luck with you writing.

Answer 5

Well..you want to be an author, or you want to write a book.

A good grasp of English would be a great start.

Answer 6

try the link out!!!