How do you write a good story or book?

Answer 1

Dialogue means writing down the way that people speak and communicate. Dialogue does several things in writing:

• it gives the reader information
• it adds depth to the characters
• it makes the story more interesting
  

Dialogue can be tricky to write well. The best way to learn how to create believable dialogue is to be observant - listen to conversations, pay attention to how people speak, and jot down interesting remarks you overhear. Notice body language and facial expressions, too. Writers are always eavesdropping to get dialogue ideas!

My whole life, I've been a great eavesdropper! - George V. Higgins

When writing dialogue, stay away from all those synonyms for "said" - the idea is to keep the reader inside the story, and reading a lot of "he spat," "she expostulated," or "intoned the old man" just jars the reader right out and makes them aware of the mechanics behind the story instead. Also, resist the temptation to add adverbs - "he said bitingly," "she sobbed heartbrokenly," - show any emotion in the way the characters speak, not in adverbs. And just use the word "said." It's short, everyone knows what it means, and the reader can skim right over it without breaking concentration. Look at these two examples and see which one seems smoother to you:

"Well, Bob," the scientist sneered bitingly," as you know, the experiment was a success, thus rendering you completely invisible, as you requested."

"But," Bob whined in an annoying voice, "I've read all about this sort of thing. You did something wrong!" "

Nonsense," the scientist scoffed. "What am I going to do now?"

Bob queried worriedly. "You didn't tell me even I wouldn't be able to see myself!"

OR

"I don't see the need for panic, Bob," the scientist raised one eyebrow, but never looked up from his computer screen. He continued to rappidly enter data into the report. "I did explain the invisibility experiment to you quite thorougly. I'm certain we discussed this ... little problem. You didn't seem very concerned before we started, though I did mention that you might have difficulty."

"You don't understand!" Bob's footsteps tapped from one end of the lab to the other as he paced. "This never happened in any of the books I read! None of the superheroes ever had this problem!"

"I hardly think that comic books are a sound basis for scientific experimentation, Bob. You're going to have to come to grips with it, that's all."

"But what am I going to do? I was only supposed to be invisible to other people! You didn't tell me I would't be able to see myself either!"

Notice, also, that in the second example, I did not need to write "Bob said" or "the scientist said" every single time. If you note the actions of the speaker, then the "he said" is implied, and the reader can figure out who said what. Also, if the speaker calls the other character by name, it's obvious who is speaking, so you don't have to note it. You do need to note the speaker periodically - about every third line or so - in order to make certain the reader doesn't get confused. But you do not have to do it each time. In normal, back-and-forth conversation, the reader will be able to follow along most of the time without any problem.

Real conversation doesn't translate into believable dialogue. Listen to people talk, but shortcut what they've said when you write by cutting out 85 percent of the words they use. - Cynthia Riggs

Follow the rules you learned for grammar, though. Double quotation marks for dialogue, with single quotes for anything the speaker is quoting another speaker within his/her speech.

"You'll never believe it," Rachel whispered, "but Stan actually said 'Stick it' to his horrible boss the other day!"

Notice that the comma or other punctuation goes inside the quotation marks, not outside. You can add other descriptions besides the dialogue into your chapters. In fact, showing some action is a good way to indicate the character's emotion and personality.

Each character needs to have an individual way of speaking, too. This is where your observations come in handy. Does your character use big words and speak in educated sentences, or does he grunt out broken fragments using short words? A Harvard graduate will speak and gesture quite differently from a high-school dropout who drives a taxicab. Watch out for stereotypes, however - some taxicab drivers are PhD students or closet intellectuals!

Writing Dialogue with More Than Two Speakers

Many scenes in your story will involve more than just two people talking. There's no problem adding more speakers - just be sure that you are very clear about who is talking on each line. You'll probably want to sprinkle a few more "Bill said," and "Alice said," indicators into the section so that the reader doesn't get lost, but otherwise, it's exactly the same as writing a conversation between two characters.

Here's how to make a good character dialogue:

1. Have a good idea already in your mind what the characters are going to talk about, and what they're going to say in general. Until you become a more experienced writer, you won't be able to "turn the characters loose" because you won't really "know" them as if they're real people. Experienced writers just have a part in their outline that says "Character X and Character Y talk about the problem" and they know the characters well enough to be able to just start writing it.
2. Stay away from the fancy words -- avoid the temptation to use things like "she exclaimed," "he ejaculated," "the red-headed giant hissed," or anything besides "he said" or "she said!" The reader basically ignores the word "said," and your dialogue will flow along just fine if you stick to using that. When the reader comes up against some flowery term, it jerks them out of the flow and interrupts the story inside their head.
3. Make it plain who's talking. You don't even have to use "he said" or "she said" every time! People will go back and forth, with one paragraph being one character, and the next the other character. So long as you put in some description that makes it plain who's talking, the reader can keep up without you having to put in "he said" after each line.
4. Give each character their own way of speaking. People talk differently -- some use big words, some use small ones. Some use dialect and slang and some don't. Let the character's dialogue be part of your description of that character and show the readers what sort of person they are.

Here's a good example to show you what I mean -- you'll notice that I've done everything I suggested above (except plan it out in advance, because I'm using two characters that I "know" very well inside my head!)

Jess closed the door and slouched against the wall. "That man is going to drive me crazy!"

Kye sprawled onto the sofa. "I dunno. Kirkham's not that bad. He's just a little ...."

"Obsessed. That's what he is. I'm going to murder him."

"No, you ain't. What you're gonna do is ignore him. Let him run around like a squirrel in a trap worrying about how the job's gonna work out. You and me will stay calm and get it done."

Jess ran a hand through his hair. "Can I at least rough him up a little?"

Answer 2

Well, I used to have lots of pieces of advice for writers, and these days, I've whittled them down to two pieces of advice. Which are, (1) if you're going to be a writer, you have to write. (2) You have to finish things. Beyond that, I suspect all is detail, but I would add to that, that having written it and finished it, you should send it off to somewhere that might publish it, and not get discouraged if it comes back.

Neil Gaiman

Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. Hopefully, you already have your story idea(s) - here are some tips to help you develop these ideas.

• Before you begin, research the market and find out how to type up a manuscript correctly - publishers will not pay attention to sloppy or poorly-typed work. Follow any guidelines given by the publisher, or in any how-to books you read.
• Write an outline giving the details of your plot - include character names and backgrounds, major events and subplots, and important ideas
• Decide which point of view to use - which character's voice will tell your story the best?
• Set a goal - decide how many pages, or how many words, you want to write each day - set aside time every day to work on this
• Brainstorm - the best way to write without getting distracted is to avoid editing it until you are finished - write whatever comes out of your mind. You will correct your mistakes later.
• Once you have finished the story, set it aside for at least a month! This is important to let the ideas "percolate" and give you a fresher viewpoint. If you try to edit as soon as you write it, you will become so used to the material that you will miss things. Work on something else during this time - start a new book, or edit an old one, or write something different. Then, once enough time has gone by, take out your book and start editing it.

Writing is the hardest way of earning a living ... with the possible exception of Wrestling alligators.

- Olin Miller

Another OpinionYou must decide whether this story will be "character-driven" or "Plot-driven" - where will the emphasis be placed, on what happens, or on the character's growth - emotional, physical, spiritual, etc.?

Type your idea into your word processing program, with all the details you have now. When you reach your writing goal for the day, stop, but do the same thing the next day, and the next, every time something occurs to you. Keep going this way until you seem to have come to an end, or the main problem is resolved. (There must be a problem, of course, or there's no story).

Explore this idea fully to make sure it is good enough to inspire and sustain you through 90-100,000 words. There's a lot of work to writing a book!

Write, write, write! Set aside a block of time that fits your schedule, and stick to it faithfully .... It's easy to find excuses not to write - successful authors don't give in to such excuses.

- Bill Pronzoni

Here are more opinions and answers from other contributors:

• If you are a writer then you are no stranger to reading and research. Search the internet for writing sites: groups, forums, workshops, whatever fits your individual needs. Read articles, periodicals or books about writing. I like Writer's Digest. (see Related Links), but there are numerous other magazines on the market. Research the process. Brush up on your spelling, grammar, all that good stuff you hated in school. Take a creative writing class. You can also find writing exercises in print or on the 'net. Study your favorite authors. You do have favorite authors, right? I firmly believe that a writer, especially a 'wannabe' writer' should be a voracious and omnivorous reader. A good way to start writing is keeping a journal. I have a journal for things like character sketches and profiles, bits of dialogue, names, and this sort of thing. I also have several journals full of research notes, plot ideas, 'stream-of-consciousness' rambling, writing exercises, and I even keep dream journals. Oh, something else... I've always heard a writer should write what he knows. Sometimes that just isn't feasible. Take Sci-fi, Horror, Fantasy, for a few examples. I think it's more important to 'know what you write.' Do your research, know what you are talking about. A reader is only willing to suspend his disbelief so far. In other words, if you've never been to Tokyo, you are probably better off not setting your story there -- unless you do some darn good background work.
• "Write What You Know" does not mean you should only write about things you have personally done - it means you should write about things you have researched, emotions you have felt, situations you are familiar with - you don't have to go into space to write what you know about personal interaction among a team of people stuck in a tiny ship with a long voyage ahead of them, or about how it feels to be lost in a strange place surrounded by danger.
• Here are some further thoughts. 1) You need to build up from writing shorter pieces. Keep everything manageable. 2) You need to sharpen your observation of the world around you. Observe ... Have a booklet in which you jot down observations, thoughts and comments. 3) Plenty of reading. Occasionally, try to stand back and work out the 'nuts and bolts' of the narrative. 4) You may find a course in creative writing useful. I don't mean a degree course; there are many shorter and less expensive courses available. A postscript: Readers tend to get very worked up about factual inaccuracies - for example landmarks and other buildings being placed on the wrong side of the road. You really MUST do a lot of research into local color and the like. Bear in mind that buildings and metro lines and so on may have changed.

There is no substitute for hard work - i.e. sitting down at the computer and writing no matter what you feel like doing instead.

- Carly Phillips

• Wow. That is a huge question. I guess the answer is... write. Planning things out helps, but all of the planning in the world doesn't get the book written. There is a lot of research involved for any novel... even an autobiography. Then, the trick is stop thinking about it and write. If you get stuck, there are so many books about writing out there, pick one up. They can help you with characterization, plot development, or whatever it is that you are stuck on. If it is just blank-mind writer's block, then start writing anything ... copy a page from the dictionary, or start typing something from the newspaper... while you are doing that, your mind will be processing the book in the background, and will usually get you back on track with the book. Some basic organization will help if you get a lot of writing done.If you are writing a story, you'll need a chronology, so you know what things happen first, and next, and later, and last. Then you can sort your writing appropriately.

All the advice above is good advice. There is no easy, short answer. But here goes:

1. If you want to be a great writer, sit your but in a chair and write. As often as possible and as many days of the week as you can manage. Many writers have a daily goal such as writing 5 pages or 1500 words. If that works for you, do it. Writers learn best by writing, failing, writing terrible stories full of cliched stereotyped one-dimensional characters. Over time, as you follow the rest of the advice here (and other places) you will improve. Take it from me: you will improve. Keep writing and then apply everything else here.
2. Read great fiction, especially in the genre in which you want to write. If you want to write thrillers, read bestselling thrillers; if romance, read romances, etc. By reading these books, you learn about the genre, learn how other professional writers deal with beginnings, endings, point of view, description, plot, characterization, setting, etc, etc.
3. Study great fiction. Don't just read for pleasure. If you are blessed enough to find a book you love, that you can't put down, study that sucker to death. Study how the author deals with all the story elements mentioned above (plot, setting, characters, etc). Study how the author writes sentences. Study what the other does and what the author doesn't do (example, does the author write detailed setting descriptions, include a lot of action, etc). Study, study, study. On that note, study all great stories, even movies and TV shows. Movies and sitcoms are just stories for the screen. Listen for how to write good, snappy dialogue. Watch for "secrets" you can use in your own stories.
4. Study the craft of writing. My office is crammed with my favorite how-to writing books. Here's a sample: Plot and Structure, by James Scott Bell, Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham, Techniques of the Selling Author (highly recommended), by Dwight Swain, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (highly recommended) by Donald Mass, Writing for Emotional Impact (screenwriting book, but also highly recommended) by Karl Iglesias. There are writing books that deal with every story element, so seek these (and other) books out. Read them. Study them. Apply the lessons as much as you can. Review them later, keep plugging along and, over time, you will start to improve. It takes time and patience. I know of no other way. Here's a warning: When you realize what goes into writing even the simplest of stories, you may feel completely overwhelmed at first. Keep at it and it'll get better (not necessarily easier, but more fun!)
5. One of the best ways to learn what you know and what you don't know is to start writing stories, from beginning to end. Go back and read them a week, 2 weeks or a month later. Edit them, revise them, look for your strengths and weaknesses. Take out some of your writing books and revise again. Keep making them better and better. Submit them for publication (Writer's Market is a great resource for publication, so check it out. While your at it, check out the Writer's Digest website and sign up for their magazine. You'll be glad you did.) Keep writing stories and revising them, improving your craft.
6. If you follow all the advice above, you should be well on your way to writing a successful, even a publishable, novel.
7. Here are few practical techniques that can help you write even better:

• With few (very few) exceptions, start your novel with action, somebody doing something. This grabs the reader's attention immediately and that is writing gold.
• Start and end every scene with something that grabs attentions: dialogue, action, suspense.
• Give out back story (stuff that happened before the story began) in small, bite-sized chunks throughout the story. Never start with back story, and avoid including back story as long as you can. The later, often the better.
• Vary your sentence lengths and structures. This is a simple, practical point that will make your writing much, much better.
• Your story should have a point, your characters a goal or goals to reach, even the bad guys. Give characters conflicting or opposite goals and watch the drama unfold.
• Give your characters ample motivation to keep plugging away after their goals, even when they encounter multiple obstacles. In other words, make sure the characters can never reasonably throw up their hands and say, "I quit." If a character can walk away, consider increasing the stakes of the story (i.e., the world will end if the hero doesn't succeed, the bad guys have the hero's child, etc). Sometimes you can "trap" characters in the story by putting them on a train or boat or island, where they can't get away even if they wanted to!
• Reveal your characters through action and dialogue, and rarely through rote description.
• Keep raising the stakes and dangers and complications for your main characters throughout the story. Escalate the problems and pain, take away everything important to the character. Writing a novel means cruelty to fictional people. This is often more difficult than it appears! Just remember, the more cruel and sadistic you are to your characters (I'm exaggerating here for effect), the better experience for the reader. Each danger and complication should be worse than the one before right up until the climax of the novel.
• Create three-dimensional characters by giving them histories, goals, strengths and flaws, nicknames, pet peeves, emotional baggage, secrets, hidden agendas, distinctive and unique ways of speaking, a set of values, etc.
• Show the different sides of your characters by showing how the character acts and reacts at work, at home, on vacation, in danger, while safe, etc.
• Put a lot of suspense into your story. Every genre of fiction writing builds upon a firm foundation of suspense. Withhold information from the reader, throw in twists and surprises, and shocking revelations. Who is that mysterious man? Why does the girl always look away and change the subject when the topic of her past comes up? What's in that little brown box? Who is the real killer? How did they do it? Why is he doing that? Get the point?
• Include tension in every page, scene, chapter and section of your story. If people talk, let them fight and argue and...you get the point, don't you? Writing without tension is often boring.

• Well, to write a good novel you need a good story line and good characters! You need to be able to connect with your audience through the plot or ,once again, the characters. People have to believe it, and to do that it takes a lot of emotion from you the author. Its not easy but you have to give it ago. You need to think about the audience your writing you novel for. Is it for teens, children or adults? When you have decided, you need to work out what you would want if you were them - eg. what do teens want? Love? Break up? Friendship? and then apply that to your novel, with that in mind there is nothing better than learning something from a book. I always like to learn a lesson from it. So maybe you could put in a normal situation that happens a lot and find a solution to it and write it. This way if the reader is ever stuck in the situation they will go back read it over and will know how to tackle the problem. This way you're helping a person as well as giving them a good read. When constructing characters whether or not they are human or not they need to have some human features or emotions this helps the reader to connect, which is what you want. I don't know what else to say. I myself are in the process of writing a novel and that is all I'm going by. Whether or not it will be a GOOD novel doesn't matter. As long as I can get one stranger to read it, then I will be satisfied. That's the goal you should be aiming for too if you're going to write.

Answer 3

"Don't listen to any advice, that's what I'd say. Write only what you want to write. Please yourself. YOU are the genius, they're not. Especially don't listen to people (such as publishers) who think that you need to write what readers say they want. Readers don't always know what they want. I don't know what I want to read until I go into a bookshop and look around at the books other people have written, and the books I enjoy reading most are books I would never in a million years have thought of myself. So the only thing you need to do is forget about pleasing other people, and aim to please yourself alone." ~Phillip Pullman

You have to decide where your imagination wants to take you with your writing. If you want to write non fiction then pick a subject you know about (or at least research it). I went to a writing college and it helped a lot and was fun. I met all sorts of interesting people and we exchanged ideas. You don't have to go to school in order to write a good story, though. Most writers don't take writing classes at all.

In order to make a story interesting, you have to have two things:

Good Detail - do your research and be able to describe the scenes, people, dialogue, and actions effectively. This also means correctly, because if you are sloppy with your research and get facts wrong, your readers will not buy your next book. Emotion - good writing is emotional writing. You have to be able to write about emotions so that the reader feels them along with your characters. Invent characters who are believable and likable, not superheroes who have no faults and are stunningly beautiful and genius-level intelligent!

More from our Wiki Contributors:

Jean Ure came to visit my school and she advised writing about things that happen everyday. She kept a diary over the years and has looked back through it to give her ideas. Writers are observant. If you pay attention to the world around you, you will find many ideas for stories, as well as examples of conversation and behavior for your characters. The actual writing process is basically what you've learned in your grammar classes at school. Use correct spelling and punctuation, too, and not "netspeak" - editors won't pay attention to anything that you have written carelessly and improperly.

One good way to get started is to imagine that you're talking. Just pretend you're telling a story to one of your friends, and instead of speaking, write. To write a good story think about what you want it to be about. Then try to stay on topic. Don't constantly change the subject.

Well, for starters, the story has to be 'you'. If the story is not 'you', you didn't write it.

Making it as real to the style as possible, Biographies should never be unauthorized, and stories about flying witches should never have 'How to bake cakes' on the the front cover. Also make it appeal to the masses if you want it to be successful. "One day a boy went to the park and met a dog" should never be read by a 30 year old.

How to write an excellent, exciting, tense story. To write an excellent, exciting, tense, story you should try and use your imagination. If people say you are a rubbish writer don't let it knock your confidence, everyone has an imagination and you just have to find it. To make an exciting story put interesting adjectives in. To make a tense story you slowly tell the story, letting little hints and clues out, this will make the reader want to continue reading the story. Plus, if you get a good paragraph together (this could be a starting paragraph) build your ideas from there. If you have a good idea write it down quickly on a piece of paper before you forget it.

For fiction people say to write about what you know, when you're first starting out. Instead write about what you don't know. Explore the subject and everything that branches off from it, research what you might need to know as you go along, but you don't always need to know what you're writing about. Sometimes it's best to let yourself just make things up as you go along, it makes the story yours, and it makes writing it and reading it exciting.

Fiction is a story that is not true. In order to write a good fictional story, find out what genre you would like to write about. (Mystery, Science-Fiction, etc) Next, figure out what you want to write about, in that genre. (Science Fiction-- what should I write about in this genre?) This step is the hardest. Once you have figured out what you want to write about-write! Make a rough draft. Next, revise, revise, revise! (You guessed it, revise again!) Until you have a clean, fluent, and exciting story!

Terry McMillan's Advice to Aspiring Writers Write as if no one is ever going to read it. Try not to read, revise or rewrite what you've written until you've had a chance to let it simmer. Don't believe your family, friends or lovers when they tell you: "It's great!" What else are they going to say? Try not to think of an idea for a good story. In fact, leave your brain out of it. Write about what frightens you. What you find perplexing. Disturbing. What breaks your heart. And what you wish you could change. Write as if you're telling a story to an old friend you haven't seen in years. It's one way to find your own voice. Read work by writers that you respect and admire. Just don't try to imitate them. You want your reader to see what's on the page, not read the words, so paint a moving picture. Don't compare what you're writing to published authors. They were once in your shoes. Remember that a story is about someone who wants something and someone is preventing them from getting it. Whatever that might be. All of us have flaws. Pass some of yours on to your characters! You want your reader to care about your characters, worry about them and hope they can get out of whatever mess you put them in. You have to have conflict in your story. Even Fairy Tales and Cartoons have them. Even if your early work gets rejected, don't beat yourself up. It doesn't mean your work isn't good. It may not be ready yet. If you feel the same after you finish writing something as you did when you started, you've wasted your time. Fiction is a way of making a lie believable. Write the kind of story you'd like to read. Read everything you write aloud. Pets make great listeners. They don't judge. Don't forget that a story should be life affirming. There's enough negativity in the world as it is. Tell the story from your character's point of view instead of yours.

Answer 4

I'm going to assume that you're interested in fiction and in having your book published by a publishing house like Random House, Putnam, etc.

The basic steps are fairly simple. First and foremost, you write a really, really good novel. Today, publishers only buy fiction from first-time authors after the manuscript is complete.

Normally, once the manuscript is finished, you shop around for an agent. Agents are insiders who know everyone in the publishing industry, and know exactly what kind of novel each editor is looking for. When you send in your own novel, it sits in a "slush pile" for about a year before anyone pays attention to it. When an agent sends it in, the editor reads it right away. (Some people skip this step and take their chances with the slush pile.)

Once you have an agent, he or she will send your novel to several editors until someone likes it, and buys it. At that point you'll sign a contract with the publisher. You normally receive some money up front, some when the final manuscript is accepted, and some when the book is actually published. Normally the agent will receive 10% to 20% of your payments, as a commission for selling the book.

You make any changes in the manuscript that the editor requests. Once the book is printed on galleys, you'll also need to proofread it. If you're lucky, you'll be asked to make appearances to promote your book.

You hear lots of scare stories about writing: At any given time, there are 200,000 people in the U.S. writing a first novel, but only about 2,000 first novels published each year. The average first novel takes 18 months to write, and earns $7,500 for the writer. But, there are people who make their living writing books, and you'll never know until you try.

Answer 5

Writing ideas are sprinkled around

the doctor's office, seated at the

family's get-together table, paraded

in-out of malls, and splashed

everywhere on the streets of your

state.

Be prepared to capture writing ideas.

Carry a pad, pen, recorder, or text

yourself enough of the idea to later

write about it.

Make a note of the idea as soon as

it appears. Don't wait. Memories fade.

It'll be impossible to retrieve the

original writing idea.

"I've been waiting too long to see

the doctor!" Someone blurted at a

crowded doctor's office.

Writing ideas exist in those words.

Take a look.

The first idea surrounds a lady who

forgot to take her medicine. She hops

up, demands to see a doctor.

The office staff tries to calm her.

The doctor bursts through the door

with a syringe in hand.

Only, the lady...

What twist would you put on the idea.

Or, what notes would you scribble down

to explore later?

At a family dinner, the secret family

cake recipe discussion came to the

surface.

The person who handled it last turned

her/his residence upside down looking

for it, to no avail.

Members of the family argue with each

other, accuse one another.

The writing idea can swirl down several

paths.

Shake-up the writing idea. Look at it

from more than one view-point.

A conversation at the mall is over-heard.

"Grandmother, they're my family too." A

teen argued at the elderly lady.

"This isn't the time to talk about it"

The lady sighed.

"But..."

"Not here." The elderly insisted.

Your writing idea on it?

Perhaps, you'd write an essay on

children raised by maternal

grandmothers. Other ideas?

The only limit to writing ideas is

your imagination. It's best to

twist ideas upside down, and

find as many writing ideas as

possible from the original.

Here is an incident from the

street of my state.

Two young men stood on a

corner whispering between

themselves as people passed.

A female with three-inch gold

earrings paced near the

young men.

The guys looked at each other.

One of them grinned, and

without warning...

What's your thoughts on

the writing idea?

Writing ideas are everywhere.

Capture them for future

writing ideas.

Answer 6

Great novelists approach their writing in all sorts of ways. Some work by writing three pages a day; others make a complete outline before they write a single word. Some use writing software to organize their notes, some just organize as they go along. The main thing that all novelists do, however, is have an idea that they want to expand on in writing. That idea can be a "what if" question, or it can be how a character handles a difficult situation, or a quest.

Answer 7

An outline is just a way to show what you're going to write. Start by writing a short description of the main scenes in your book and try to put those into some sort of logical order. You might try writing them on index cards first so you can shuffle them around to make more sense. Next, see if you can divide the scenes into chapters - or put them together to make a chapter if you have several short scenes that can go together.

An outline can be as detailed or as rough as you need it to be - the object is to get you organized enough to start writing that book.

Answer 8

You write the same as an adult writes --- plant your butt in a chair and get started! Click on the links for more help writing.