Whether you aspire to write a romance, an expert guide to business success, or the Great American Novel, Write Your Book Now! gives you proven, field-tested tools to successfully finish the book you’ve always wanted to write.
The central insight of Write Your Book Now! is that no one writes a whole book. All anyone can do, at every specific step of the writing process, is write part of a book. Write Your Book Now! simplifies the book-writing project by breaking it down into a series of discrete tasks that anyone can accomplish.
You need this book, right? RIGHT. Gene is here to talk about letting your chapters marinate, something I agree with wholeheartedly. Take it away, Gene!
I’m sure you’ve experienced this phenomenon at some time or another: You are trying to recall a name, but it escapes you totally. You struggle to remember. You might even run through the alphabet to get an initial that helps you recall the name. Nothing works. So you abandon the effort. Then suddenly, with no warning, the name almost literally pops into your head. This is an indication that your mind continues to work even when you’re not consciously working.
This same phenomenon can be useful to writers. I call it “letting the chapter marinate.” I recommend this practice in my most recent book, Write Your Book Now!. The idea is to think about the specific chapter you are going to write. Consciously formulate some ideas that you will include in that chapter. Make notes. However, then allow some time for your subconscious to continue to work on the chapter without your interference. (Dude, this is what I do! Instead of outlining, it's stewing. Sweet validation.)
Remember the way that elusive name “popped” into your head with no prompting from you? Well, thoughts could well pop into your head that will enhance the chapter you’re about to write. Utilizing this technique can add substance and depth to your writing. It bypasses the obvious ideas because somehow that second level of the mind comes up with more innovative, unique aspects of whatever topic your writing about.
To take advantage of this process, you do have to plan your chapters before writing them.
This is another technique that I recommend in Write Your Book Now!. Momentum is an important part of writing. Once you begin to tap out words on your keyboard, it’s beneficial to keep going. Just like sports teams try to maintain positive momentum, so should authors. (Which is why I can write whole books in three weeks. Momentum. Who knew?)
Planning your chapter produces more forceful writing because one thought can lead into another. The entire text seems to be driving toward the goal. Having that road map planned before beginning the typing allows the author the freedom to simply keep “driving.” There’s no need after finishing one thought to stop and plan what the next idea will be. It’s already been thought through.
Another important part of this process is to complete any research that is a part of your chapter. In many of my joke writing books I like to include examples of whatever comedy technique I’m illustrating. Stopping to look up appropriate examples forces me to interrupt my writing, gather my references, and then return to my writing. If the research is done before the actual text writing, I can simply list the illustrations without breaking the flow of my writing.
With a well-planned chapter, you can have all applicable quotes, entertaining anecdotes, pertinent statistics, and other references on hand so that you can turn to them whenever you need them in the text. It’s counter-productive to interrupt solid writing momentum to do research.
Some author once noted that he had the book already written, all that remained was to fill in the words. Filling in the words can be a daunting task and one that demands your full attention and devotion. Allowing time for your chapter to “marinate” and to plan all of the steps in the chapter, along with whatever research is required, will give you the freedom to concentrate on being a writer.
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Wow. See why you need to buy Gene's book? It is just that fabulous.
So do you allow your chapters to "marinate" in the way Gene describes? Do you allow yourself to stall in the writing to research?
Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.
Or on their blogs:
- LiLa Roecker is gaga for Imaginary Girls
- Shannon Whitney Messenger catches The Eleventh Plague – with giveaway
- Megan Miranda is transfixed by Between
- Stasia Ward Kehoe falls for the cover of The Fox Inheritance
- Shana Silver delves into The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
- Corrine Jackson celebrates her “Blogiversary” with YA Authors sharing Lessons Learned
- Christine Fonseca celebrates Circle of Fire – with giveaway