Writing a book is a big task. The mere idea of writing a book can be stressful to many people, not to mention actually doing it.
But what I always tell people is that writing a book really isn’t as hard as authors make it out to be. It requires determination, as I said in the series introduction. But to even start, you need to have something else, too. You have to have something to write about.
You might be one of those people who already knows what to write your book on. Well, keep reading this post. I’ve had book ideas and started them, only to realize I didn’t like it, after all. Besides, after you finish one book you might want to write another, and you’ll need to know how to get ideas for your new subject.
First, I’ll tell you that inspiration for a book can be discovered in two ways. It can be planned or it can be random.
To explain that, I’ll tell you about how I decided on the topics for all of my books.
I already mentioned in my introduction post that I was mostly inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy when I first began my own fantasy trilogy. I wanted to write a fantasy like him, although at the time I had no idea it would end up being three books. That’s just how long it took for me to finish them.
When I started writing, I first knew I needed a world of my own, so I drew a map. If you want to start off with fantasy, I would suggest drawing a map. It doesn’t have to be what you use for your book, but starting off with ideas of forests and mountains and kingdoms naturally leads to thinking of the inhabitants. I created a kingdom full of magical people called the Arnulians. I singled one of them out, Prince Eryndyr. I tossed a few adventures his way, and that was that. My three books were kickstarted and the adventure rose the more I wrote.
Of course, Book 2 and Book 3 weren’t really like starting a new book, just continuing a new one. Because I formed that first central idea around Eryndyr, I was able to make a story that lasted hundreds of pages.
My fourth book was quite different, indeed. I had been writing on my trilogy for years and years, from the age of nine to seventeen when I finally finished it. I had no idea what I wanted to write next. I knew I never wanted to stop writing, but I didn’t know what to write.
For a few weeks I didn’t really do anything about it, hoping something would happen. And it did. One day I was talking online to an author friend who I would often talk to and write with. We had an interesting conversation, paraphrased below:
“Write about your life,” he said. “Everyone has a story.”
“But my life wouldn’t really make a good story,” I said. “I’ve had a boring life.”
“Nonsense. There is something in your life worth writing about.”
Even though I certainly didn’t want to write an autobiography. I was only seventeen. Not too much can happen in 17 years. Or can it? I started thinking again. I had been thinking about writing a story about a boy named Elijah with a pet chicken named Jezebel (hopefully you catch that reference). I also wanted to write about a hurricane that struck the area I lived in fifty years before. And so I had the idea of merging all three ideas together. My main character would be named Elijah. He would have a pet chicken named Jezebel, he would live fifty years ago in my area, and his story would have some similarity to mine.
And so my fourth book was born, a historical fiction book. If you get your idea, the story will follow.
My fifth book was quite differently inspired than those. As you probably have noticed, the trilogy and historical fiction book were inspired by careful thought and planning. I had to think of the characters and the setting and the general idea myself. I had to choose to write a fantasy trilogy about Eryndyr. I had to decide to write about Elijah.
Random inspiration is how I began my fifth book. I was about to finish the fall semester at college. Two days before Christmas break, an idea randomly popped into my head. I knew I wanted to write something over break, but had nothing to write until then.
The idea was to write about people called Music-wielders who could work magic when they played on their instrument.
That’s all you need to start writing. All you need is an idea.
But how do you get the idea? That’s what you’re probably wondering right now. Of course, random inspiration can’t be forced. It comes randomly (big surprise). I was just hanging out with friends in my dorm when the idea was suddenly there.
However, planned inspiration is exactly what is sounds like: planned. It’s up to you to figure out what to write. And for the rest of this blog post, I’ll tell you how to do it.
First, I want you to get a sheet of paper and a pen. Answer these questions and try to think of more questions yourself.
What was the best book you ever read? What kind of book impacts you the most? What are your top five favorite things to do? What was the happiest moment of your life? What was the saddest moment of your life? What’s your favorite word? When you say your favorite word, what place, person, or object comes to mind? Does your family have an interesting history? What have your relatives done that might make their story special? Have you or do you know anyone who has gone through a life changing event? What is your favorite movie? What is your favorite color? What do you think is the most mysterious, explainable thing in the world? Who was your least favorite person in your childhood? What person has impacted you the most? If you have a job, what is it? Where were your ancestors from? Have you visited any foreign countries, and what was the most memorable occasion from them? What phenomenon do you secretly believe in? What is the strangest house you have ever been in and why? What’s your favorite animal?
Those are all questions that could help you discover what you are passionate about. If you truly appreciate or love something, then you will likely make a better writer of a book about it. Your neighbor may have been involved in the discovery of some archaeological finds, or you may be an arrowhead collector. Perhaps you love reading about Native American history, or particularly enjoy reading about dragons. Any of those topics would make a good book that someone out there would read.
So you see, all you really need to begin writing a book is an idea. You might want to write about a boy who has trouble in school. You might want to write a book about a girl who discovers she can turn invisible. There is a world of ideas out there, waiting for you to take one. Just take an idea, and in the next blog post I will tell you how to begin writing a book about it.
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