Perhaps you’ve led an adventurous life and have a story worth telling. Or, maybe you’ve spent your life’s work compiling an exhaustive list of trivia that would make a great coffee-table masterpiece. If you’ve considered penning that book you’ve always wanted to write, here are some tips for making the process easy and fun.
The first step is to read and re-read a few of the books you admire – those that you thought really hit the right notes with a great voice and style. Doing so will get those creative juices flowing. Try to step back and look at the overall structure of one of your favorite reads. How does the author draw you into the story? Is it with a puzzler or the opening salvo that starts off with guns ablaze? Many a good story was not read beyond the first page. Make that first page count.
Next, consider who your target reader may be. Is it a business professional looking for a few sage tips conveyed in a conversational style? Or maybe it’s a stay-at-home mom who loves to dish out advice on rearing a large family.
Think about the genre you’re most interested in exploring. As in the case above, even though those two groups of readers seem world’s apart, both of those stories would be in the same genre: Dispensing advice.
Once you have your mind set on a certain genre, consider on the most important aspects of writing a book. Also think about the images you will use to sell the book. Many readers will judge your book by its cover. That’s the first prompt for a potential reader to pick up a book and open it to page one of the story.
There is another additional opportunity to connect with a potential reader: The excerpt teaser on the back of the book’s paper cover. Test it by asking others to look at your proposed book cover. What do they think of it? Question them briefly to discover if the cover illustration accurately matched the subject matter.
Now you’re ready to pen your personal masterpiece!