Writing a book.

Just start writing. What I have learned is that if you think too much on the rough draft you'll never get it finished. Start from the beginning and just write. You can trim out what you don't want, and elaborate on what you do, later. You will be amazed at the feeling of accomplishment when you get the rough draft finished. Editing is the hard part because it's tedious and requires you to be objective, something that is not always easy on your first book but if you have too much trouble, employ some help. Maybe a close friend who you trust to be honest with you and tell you "this part drags on too long," or "this was really interesting, I want to know more."

I recommend reading the book Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She doesn't tell you How to write but she does give insights on how to get started, how to continue once you've started and how to get beyond your writer's block.

You could just start writing stuff down and then let the format and genre suggest themselves. When I was in school and had to write papers, I would get a bunch of note cards and write down the stuff that I thought was important about the subject of the paper. I would write my research on separate note cards too with the citations on the back. Then, after I had lots of note cards of information, I could organize my thoughts into a coherent paper. It never worked to start at the beginning and just plow through. That always ended up sounding like a book report. Good luck!

The best way to learn about writing is to read. The more you read, the more you can see how others have approached it. I decided to find out if I was any good at writing, so I joined Triond about 3 weeks ago. It is a web-site where you can look at other people's stuff, and submit your own work for publishing. You don't have to be a wonderful writer, but it helps a lot to get other peoples, feedback and comments. You get paid a tiny amount too. There is a link under the daffodil on my profile page if you are interested.

I have always wanted to write a book, too, but I think it would be hard if you don't know what format to use at this point. I would just start writing chapters of my life and saving them on my computer, and when I had a bunch, I would take a look at them and see how they peiced themselves together. Outlines are a good idea, too, but you need to know if it's a autobiagraphy or fiction at that point. If you do like to write fiction, it may be easier to write a book with characters that have experiences from your own life... GOod luck to you!

Ultimately, it boils down to doing what works for you because many writers have different ways of doing things. Holly Lisle, for example, used maps to work on ideas for her story. In fact, she has a website dedicated to helping others be writers in their own right. She has a mailing list where she gives lessons and she sells ebooks if you want more thorough lessons There's also a place called "Forward Motion" that can help too. Some people outline like they're writing papers. Other just jot own ideas. Some follow a "30 minute" brainstorm of basic outlining. Search for "Outline your novel in 30 minutes". That's a huge help for getting an idea of what to do.

Pen is sharper than sword and so is writing a gift. You are blessed with such gift. Dnt waste time thinking about the details much. You wish to write about your experiences in life. This is a nice thing. Do write about your ups and downs. How did u face challenges in your life. Your writings may prove out to be learning to someone. So start today! Good luck.

Sit down at your computer (or paper and pen, if you prefer) and start writing. Do not stop for typing or spelling or grammar. Do not stop to change things around. Just write and don't stop. You can go back and read it a day or so later, then make some corrections. You will find that a work of writing is never done. You will always find something to change . . . to add . . . to remove . . . to correct. I am working on my bachelor's degree in professional writing on the creative track. Some things I have found helpful, besides the courses themselves are: reading books of all genres; reading books at the library about writing and getting published; keeping a journal; and, writing for websites. If you can't take college courses (or even if you can) I would recommend you find a writer's group in your area. They allow beginning writers through advanced, published, experienced writers. You will be encouraged to write anything from small little poems, articles, and short stories to memoirs and novels. You read out loud to the group and they give helpful critique and suggestions. (Reading out loud helps you to hear how your words flow and whether it sounds believable or not.) A helpful book: "Writing Down the Bones - Freeing the Writer Within" by Natalie Goldberg. Start small. If you can't jump right into the book, do some smaller pieces first. When you become comfortable with the flow of writing, the bigger things will come along. Good luck.

I think one thing you need to decide is what you want to have happen within your book. The book I am working on deals with keeping your faith when you are dealing with cancer. It is a hard thing to do to write a book because of the issues you have. Think about what you want to happen. Start with a short story and build from there, that is what I am doing.

Sometimes, a story just needs to sit in your head for a while. It will boil for sometime. And when it's ready to come out, it'll come out. In the mean time, I think you should keep writing notes, thoughts, and even a scene that may pop in your head, which you think would work in your book. It doesn't matter whether you think you may use some information or not. Write it down anyway. Worse thing that happens is that you don't use it, in which case nothing is really lost.

Dear Mamabeezy, I have no right to comment as a writer. I can only give suggestion from the standpoint of a reader. When reading autobiography, the first thing I look out for are the pictures. Those cute cute and old black and white photos. Somehow words dont endear me to the writer as much as photos. So add in a lot of photos into your book. If you are a lazy bum like me, then choose the laziest way to write it. Just put photo/picture on one page, and write about the photo/picture on the other page. Guess you will take a week to complete 100 pages. Make it really easy for lazy reader (ME) to read too!

Just get all the words down that occur to you and worry about getting them in order afterwards because then you'll have something to work with. If you worry too much up front about what you're doing with it, instead of doing it, you'll freeze yourself up. I have written a couple of books, and although they reflect things I've experienced, they're not the story of my life.