So you want to write a book?
To write a book the first thing you should do is read a lot! Go to your library and browse through all sorts of different books. Make sure you read some books that are from a different genre than you want to write as well. You might get some interesting and different ideas from something outside your genre.
If you want to write a children’s book than pay close attention to the way the pictures and story work together. Note what you like about each book and what you don’t like.
Start writing
The next step to writing a book is to start writing! I recommend writing before you worry too much about what the book will be about. Writing every day will improve your ability to write and will also get the ideas flowing. You can use writing prompts like this (add a link) to get you started. Write for 5-15 minutes for each writing prompt. Writing prompts are a great warm up as well, once you start writing your story.
Pick a story idea
You can dig through your writing prompts for inspiration, base the story on things that have happened in your own life, get inspiration from a dream, or use an idea that you have already been thinking about for a long time. Write down notes on what will happen in the story, and what characters will be included.
Develop the plot.
Decide what is going to happen in your book. Even if one of your writing prompts led to a completed story this is still an important step! Think about the plot and make sure you include an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Introduction: Introduce your characters in a fun way.
Rising action: Think about challenges that your character has to face, and slowly make them larger and larger challenges as the story progresses.
Climax: This is where you want to include the most exciting part of the book and the most challenging thing for your character to overcome.
Falling action: Think of a good way to lower the tension and ease the reader towards the ending.
Resolution: Wrap your story up by showing your reader what happens to your characters after the story ends
Make changes
A lot of people think that the work is all done once they have written their book, but actually there is a lot more to writing than that! After you write your book, read it. I recommend reading it out loud to a friend or family member. That way you can make sure everything makes sense. If anything in your story is confusing, change it so that it makes more sense!
You might also notice that there are some parts of your book that seem a little bit boring, and you might want to add something interesting to spice it up! Or there might be part of your story that is too action packed and hard to follow, and you might want to add some more description and explanation.
Edit
When you’re happy with your story you can read it again and fix any mistakes you’ve made. Have a friend or family member read it too and ask them to circle spelling and grammar mistakes so that you can find them!
Decide if you want to publish
Did you know that you could be an author? All of the tools you need are online! You can publish your book, order printed copies, and sell your book online, and there’s no age limit! (The youngest author I know is only 5). You can decide if you want to publish your story, or if you just want to keep it for yourself, but either way printed copies for friends and family make a great gift! (and if you don’t want to publish you can print them right at home on your own printer and staple them together with a nice cover!)
If you think writing your own book sounds like a ton of fun check out my online classes!
In this class I will teach students how to plan, write, edit, and publish their own story. Each learner will be working at their own pace. Each week will include assigned writing time, and a recorded lesson on a different topic, which may be modified to reflect the learners’ progress. Learners will be expected to post their work in the classroom or by direct message to the teacher. They will peer review each others’ writing and will leave comments, suggestions, and edits for each other. Students are encouraged to join the class no matter what stage of the writing process they are in.
In this class we learn strategies to finish writing a story, how to edit your book, and how to publish your story. This class is perfect for students who already have part, most, or all of a book written, but are not sure what to do next. In the first five weeks we will learn writing exercises and strategies to help you finish your first draft of your story, modified content will be posted for students who already have a completed first draft. The next 6 weeks will cover how to edit your story. The last 5 weeks of the course will be all about getting your book ready for publication.
Find more posts, games, and activities for kids! https://travelingchalkboard.com/kids/
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