125: How to Write a Book When You Just Have an Idea

 

If you've got an idea for a novel, how do you turn that into a full-length book? This episode covers the process from a high level (and shares how you can get more help with the rest of the process!)

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how to write a book when you just have an idea

Hi, Friends, welcome back to your big creative life. The topic for this week is something that was inspired by a video I did a few weeks ago that went viral that was unexpected isn't is not always the case. It's like the videos that take you two seconds to make that get a ton of views and then videos that you spend so much time and effort into, like, don't get many views. But it was a video that I did that was essentially saying, if you have a desire to write a book, that desire is there for a reason, it's not random, you need to pay attention to that even if you don't know all the steps, even if you don't have your idea fully fleshed out. Like that is something that you need to pay attention to.

 

And so there were a lot of comments in that, on that video that were saying things like, well, I've got the idea, but I don't know what to do next, I have the idea. But I can't find time, I feel overwhelmed. And so I wanted to do an episode talking about my strategy, my suggestions for how to start writing a book if you have an idea. But that's it like a loose idea. Not even, I'm not talking about you've got a full outline developed and you know, every single thing that happens in the book, and you know all of your characters I'm talking about. I'm talking about just a loose vague idea of something, you have some idea that you want to explore.

 

And I'm going to give you some strategies and some tips in this episode. But I also want to share about something really cool that I'm going to be launching that starts in May, that's called novel jumpstart, that is going to be freakin perfect for you. If you are in this scenario, if you're in this boat where you want to write a book, you just don't know where to start, you feel overwhelmed. Again, maybe you've got that loose idea. But that's about it. Novel Jumpstart is going to run from May 6 to July 1. So it's an eight week program. And the goal of the eight week program is that by the end of those eight weeks, you are going to have the first 50 pages of your novel written. So let me tell you a brief give you just a brief overview of what's included because there's a lot that get it's designed to support you again in writing those first first 50 pages.

 

So you get access to idea to book, which is a full online course that I created that takes you all the way from idea to finished book. And you actually get to keep access to the course after the weeks are done, you get lifetime access to it so that there are some modules in there that won't apply for the first 50 pages that talk about like, you know how to edit your draft. So that'll be helpful for once you're done with novel jumpstart, and you have those first 50 pages done, you'll be able to go back to this online course and watch all the modules. So you get access to that there's also going to be weekly office hours and coaching calls with me. So every Friday at 1 pm eastern, we're going to have like a drop in office hours where you could ask questions, you can get coaching, you can just talk about whatever you need support with and get help from me.

 

And then we're gonna have a discord group for everyone that is in this program. So there's a sense of community, you could ask questions, use it for accountability. And then you also get feedback from me at the end of the program on your 50 pages. So I'm going to do a manuscript evaluation that includes an editorial letter, a three to four page letter for you that gives you feedback and lays out my recommendations for your first 50 pages. So you get feedback on things like you know, your first page characters plot, dialog, conflict, all that good stuff. So because I'm giving you feedback on your pages, the spots are limited, I only have eight spots that are available, because I can't do you know, because I'm giving you feedback on your pages. I can't do that for like 100 people.

 

So there are eight spots open. And registration is going to start next week registration will enrollment will open on April 29. And then once those eight spots are full, that's it will start May 6. Again, it runs through July 1. So I'm going to put the link to the page in the description. It's episode below the YouTube video everything so you can check out all the information and there's the FAQ section on there to see if if you have questions about like, who this would be good for when everything's held just all the logistics and the details. Definitely go check that out. Because this is the first time that I'm running this program. It's going to be cheaper than when I re do the program again.

 

So it's only two monthly payments of 299 for the coaching, accountability, the full online course that you could access to forever lifetime access to the coaching discord group, what else am I forgetting the feedback for me the editing, that's a big component of as well. So if you added up all those elements, it would be like close to $1,000. But again, because this is the first time I'm running, it is just two monthly payments of $299. Eight spots available. Again, check out the link in the description, it's episode or below the YouTube video if you want to get all the details on it and be ready, because enrollment opens April 29. And then once it's full, it's full. So I'll let you know how many spots are available as they fill and keep you posted on social media for that. But that is going to be very helpful if you find yourself in a situation.

 

So let's dive into it. Let's talk about how you can approach this process of writing a book what my strategies are if you're just starting with a vague idea, and you don't really know where to go from there. So the first thing that I suggest, is something called a brain dump. This can be as loose or structured as you want. This can be done with a pen and paper, it can be done on the computer, however form whatever formula, it looks like, it's fine, you get to decide the value of a brain dump is that you are getting everything that's been swirling in your mind about this book onto the page, you can write it in sentences, if that's how it comes out, you can do bullet points again, however you want to do it is fine. For some of you this might be you might fill up several pages with all of your ideas, maybe you've got a few ideas about the setting. Maybe you have a particular scene that you've pictured maybe you know some details about your main character.

 

And for some of you maybe you don't know very much at all, like maybe you only have a picture in your mind of a particular moment of the story that you want to tell. Maybe it's just a visual, something that comes to you that is just like you cannot get it out of your head. Whatever you have discovered so far about the story, put it down on to paper. Some of you listening will use this document that you've created this brain dump, to then go on and build a loose outline. Some of you will just start writing, there is no right one right way to write a book. Let me say that again. There is no one correct way to write a book. Some people prefer to have a detailed outline to work from before they start writing. Some people like to just pants it start writing with an idea and discover the story as they go. Both options are great, both options are valid. I do think the brain dump is helpful even for people who don't want to do a loose outline or a detailed outline just again to get all of those thoughts that are swirling around in your mind, on to the page to see what's there to see if there's anything else that you want to figure out before you start writing.

 

For those of you who do want to do an outline, what I recommend doing is taking that brain dump document and looking at the plot points that you have figured out already. So maybe you have an idea for a scene in the middle of the book, or maybe you have an idea of the opening scene. But you don't have much else. That's okay, that's a great starting point for an outline. But if you want to try and brainstorm other options, other plot ideas, this is my recommendation. Start with your characters, starting with your characters is a great way to come up with plot points. Because once you know who your character is, like your main character or main characters, it is so much easier to come up with plot ideas, because you're going to know who this person is, what they're working towards in the story, what they want in the story, and then also what's in the way what's standing in the way of your character getting what they want. That's all fantastic sort of food for thought when it comes to plot when it comes to coming up with ideas. So I always think it's worth spending some time on your main character before you begin writing or main characters plural if you have multiple main characters.

 

Again, how much work you do on this character is going to depend on what type of writer you are. And let me say really quickly, if you're like, I don't know what type of writer I am, I've never done this before Katie, I have How do I know what my preferred outlining strategy should be? This might just be something that you have to discover. See, if you feel pulled towards one option if you if the idea of creating an outline to you when I talk about creating an outline, if you feel this sense in your in your gut where you're like, Ooh, I don't.

 

And it sounds exciting for you to just start writing the story then try that. And reverse is true. If you are like ooh, an outline that sounds kind of cool to nail down some ideas before I start, then that might be an option to try first for you. You can always change you can always adapt. I'm sort of a hybrid person, myself and my own writing. Where I do like to gather a few loose ideas. I do like to do some work on my main characters, but I don't have a detailed outline, I figure out a lot of those pieces of the story as I go, I just like to have a few things, a few foundational things in place to guide me when I start to write, but the rest I discover as I go, so it might be a case of you just starting to write and seeing what happens.

 

And remember that you can always change your process for everything that you write, you can try new things, you can do more, outlining less, outlining more brainstorming, less brainstorming. So this is never something that you have to decide, and then just commit to it for the rest of your writing life. But going back to the characters, I think that's really helpful to do some work and some brainstorming and make some decisions about this person. What is their backstory, like? Just a few details about what happened to this person before the story starts? What is their personality? What are some of their strengths? What are some of their weaknesses? How would other people describe them? You can do physical details if you want. And then also, again, like I mentioned, what is their motivation? What's driving them forward in the story? What are they reaching towards? What what are they striving towards? What are they what's their goal?

 

Again, those can all be really good things to prompt ideas about the plot. And it's also, you know, what, no matter what genre you're writing, and characters are the heart of it. And so having strong characters is essential. And doing this little bit of foundational work ahead of time will will help give you that clarity. Of course, you can always go back in later drafts and add in that those layers of character complexity if your characters feeling a bit flat, but I just think it's something that can help the first time around when you're first starting to write to get some clarity around this person right away.

 

The next thing that I want to tell you, Okay, so you've done your brainstorming, you have done the brain dump, maybe you have a little bit of an outline, maybe not, is to be thinking about? Well, okay, for those of you who have done the outline, I want you to think about a few main plot points I mentioned, you know, you maybe you've got a few ideas, maybe you got a lot of ideas for the for the plot, think about a few defining points, you can look at something like a three act story structure if you want. Or you can also just be thinking about, I'll give you two things to think about, let's say, number one is the inciting incident of your story, the inciting incident is what kicks things off in the book, it sets things in motion for your main character, it puts them on the journey that they're going to take over the course of the book. And journey doesn't have to mean a physical journey, it can just mean it, it like starts the story for them, right.

 

So maybe they meet someone, maybe they get fired, maybe they get in a car accident, maybe something other something, they learned that their mother has died, they get an important phone call, who knows what it could be there, all kinds of stuff. But just be thinking about that the inciting incident that has to happen in the first like 10 to 20% of your book. And then also be thinking about your ending your climax. You don't have to have these two things nailed down. But I think it's helpful for a first time writer to have these two points identified. If you're the type of writer who likes to plan and do a little bit of outlining, because it it provides sort of a roadmap for you as you're writing, if you know what kicks off the story. And then you know, where the story where climax is.

 

That can help. And I speaking from personal experience, the first book that I wrote, I didn't know how it was going to end. And that caused me so much trouble, it caused me a lot of grief to the point where I was just wanting to throw my manuscript and toss it because it I could not decide. I had really written myself into a into a corner. So just, you know, now anything that I write, I always make sure I have a vague idea of the ending, not all the details, figure it out, but I at least know where things are leading. So that's at least the type of writer that I am. Okay, the last thing I'll say about this, whether you are someone who likes to just start writing and figure out the story, or if you're someone who wants to do all that outlining and planning, you don't have to start at page one.

 

You do not have to start writing your opening scene first. That might sound groundbreaking and revolutionary. And like I'm telling you to break rules, because that is how that felt when I heard someone talk about that. At first, I didn't know that that was an option. I didn't know that you could do that. Now I am a chronological writer, meaning I start from page one and work my way through the story. Just because that's how my brain works. It's easiest for me to do it that way. But I have coaching clients, I have editing clients, I have people that I know writer friends who don't do that. They might start with a scene that's calling to them, but they are so excited to write that happens in the midpoint of the book. If you're someone who just has a vague like a vague image of a scene, you can't really identify much about it but you have this picture in your mind.

 

Start with that, and then go back to fill in the gaps before that moment happens. This is like almost it's like an intuitive sort of writing like just being pulled towards certain scenes or certain moments and writing those as you feel called to write them. Now the challenging part about doing this, I will say is that, sometimes you might have to do a little bit more work in editing on your next drafts because the first draft might be a bit jumbled because you have jumped around a bit. Not always, that's not always the case. But it might be, but that's okay, if that's your process, that's more than okay, you just might have to do a bit more legwork later to kind of make things flow together, so it doesn't feel jumbled. But that's certainly something that you can do on later drafts. Remember that the first draft is just for you, you're not showing it to anyone, it is just for you to figure out the story.

 

So it's okay, if it's winding and has some pieces that don't quite fit together, you will get there eventually. So you can start on page one, chapter one if you want. But you can also start halfway through or the end if you want to write if you want to write the very last scene of your book. And that's what's calling to you start there, that can be a great writing exercise, too. If you do feel stuck. Sometimes I've I've done that with like, you know, I don't know, if I have a scene in mind for towards the end of the book, and I'm writing something earlier, I might just do like a brainstorming exercise and kind of think about that scene. And I don't actually write it, but I might just do some brainstorming to block it out. And then go back to the scene that I'm working on. And sometimes that helps me.

 

So all right, so those are my steps. Those are my strategies. Obviously, there's a lot more that goes into this, this is a lot more complex, because there are all kinds of decisions that you have to make about your characters about the tense that you're going to write in the point of view that you're going to write and you have to develop conflict, like all of these different building blocks are really essential. So I encourage you to check out the novel jumpstart if you think that's something that might be helpful. Again, I if it's if it is something that you think would helpful would be helpful, I really encourage you to jump in this round, because again, you get a discount on it. It's going to be more expensive when I run it again the next time, just because this is the first run of it, and I'm really, really excited. If you're not sure if it's a good fit, please reach out to me, you could DM me on Instagram at the Katie wolf or email me hello at the Katie wolf.com And I'll chat it through with you and see you know, we can see if we think it's a good fit for you. But um, yeah, so I'm very excited about that. Definitely check it out. And I will see you all next week. Thank you so much for listening.

Katie Wolf