The Writing Process: Step Two
Parts of a Book
Now that we've beat the "how do I begin?" question to death... let's move on.
The idea of the starving writer sitting in his or her attic, surrounded by dust and old furniture, freezing in the winter, sweating in the summer, is just false. That was part of some old English novel...and it has seen its day.
Today, you have so many options for writing your book. The option you don't have is how... you must use a computer. If you write it longhand, or type it on a typewriter, it will have to be keyed into a computer, so... why not just use a computer?
If you are truly a starving writer, go to the library and use a computer there. I'm not sure how efficient that is...but, it's an option. Naturally, in addition to a computer you need a printer. You may have an opportunity to email your manuscript and/or proposal to an agent or a publisher, but they may want to see a hard copy at some point. Understand this: EVERYTHING looks different in print. It even sounds different.
Let's say you're writing a book that will include graphics of some sort. Fiction books might have images of places or people, scattered about. Non-fiction might have the same, or a non-fiction book might have graphs and charts. Anything that isn't text is an image and images require "placement." You can't just willy-nilly put your cursor next to a word and click "submit" and expect that image to be placed properly. Image placement takes time, talent, and energy. Books with images cost more - as they should.
Along with images, non-fiction books may include what we used to call footnotes. Today, we usually turn these citations into end notes, located at the back of the book for quick reference. Some authors include their citations within the text - to avoid having end notes. Just remember, citations are vital to your book - do not plagarize. Your publisher will know if you do and... you will never get published, anywhere, because in this day and age, the word will get out - fast.
An important part of your non-fiction book is the index. An index is a complicated thing to build. The software tools in use today are far better than those of yesteryear, but a true index needs human involvement. A real, live human being needs to double-check the software's version against what he or she believes should be in the index. Often, the human element will find things the software program missed, or miscalculated. Depending on the size of the book, this task can take days. People who create indexes are worth their weight in gold.
As the book is written, I hope you are thinking about the cover. The cover is vital...necessary...more important than the introduction, the forward, the end notes, and the index. Why? Because... people really do consider a book by its cover. If your cover is a turn off, no one will see the inside of the book. If you cannot create your own cover, if your publisher cannot create your cover, hire a real book cover designer. Not a designer. A book cover designer. You will be glad you did.
Speaking of the cover... do not overlook the back of the cover. A customized back cover includes a short blurb about the book, some testimonials (which you will get while the book is in galley stage, just before printing), and a picture with a short bio, of the author. People want to know who you are, what makes you so special that you got to write this book, and they want to hear what other people have to say about it. If you have celebrities at your fingertips, grab'em. Drop names. Yep - in this case, it helps sell books.
That's all for now. We'll get into the rest of the process next week. TTFN!
Recent Comments