Anyone can write a book. Anyone. Maybe not a great book, maybe not at first. But the more you write and the more you read (and read!) the better you’ll get. Here’s how I wrote my latest book (which landed me an agent) plus footnotes with actual tips and tricks for each step of the way…
Do it without generative AI, so people get real human vibes. You can even start before AI is a thing. Like, say, November 1, 2018, if possible.1
After trying and failing at NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month challenge) in years past, dedicate yourself to the task: 50,000 words in 30 days. It’s not easy. You didn’t want easy, did you?2
Begin with a clear idea in mind. Perhaps you recently re-read The Great Gatsby so those themes are top-of-mind—identity, privilege, obsession, corruption, betrayal, debauchery, moral decay, murder, and lots of drinking.3
Create an underdog everyone loves. A victim everyone hates. A morally ambiguous supporting cast. Lock them up at an exotic island resort and give them way too many mai-tai’s. What could go wrong?4
Make sure you come up with really interesting things that go wrong.5
Also, make sure it has humor. Even if it’s gallows humor. Especially if it’s gallows humor.6
Write your first draft like it doesn’t matter because, honestly, it doesn’t. Like Hemingway said, all first drafts are shit. So write that shit!
(In fact, below I’ve pasted your own printable License To Write Shit)7Cross the 50,000 word finish line a week ahead of the deadline. Because caffeine. And sharks.8
Register it with the US Copyright Office. This step is pointless. Do it anyway.9
Then put the book on the shelf. Forget about it. You are tired.10
An influencer who pissed off the wrong crowd. A ruthless politician’s secret son. A debutante on the brink of bankruptcy. And a volatile movie star, kicked out of rehab (again). All capable of this grisly murder, and all exposed by an outsider: a poor college student living out of a car, who just happened to win an all-expenses-paid trip to this remote island.
Set a daily goal or a deadline (or both). The original NaNoWriMo collapsed due to some serious scandals but there’s a NaNoWriMo 2.0 you can check out.
Flawed characters + unusual locale = drama! Stories with built-in tension and fish-out-of-water aspects are easier to get into—for the writer and the reader.
A little humor makes the work breathe. Use your sense of humor to offset the heavy moments, which gives the reader a more varied experience.
When they asked Hemingway how to become a great writer, he said “Write!” To which I would add “Read!” Read, read, read…
You don’t have to register copyright. Sometimes I just email myself the story, so I have a timestamp that went through a server. Not sure if that meets legal muster though.
Leave a first draft alone for a while, to get some distance and perspective, then return with fresh eyes and a newfound hunger.
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