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Published January 19, 2025
In this post, I’ll be sharing some fundamental tips and tricks for writing a book. Don’t worry, I won’t be telling you what to write—because that’s your job, not mine. Instead, I’ll focus on how to write, where to find your ideas, and how to weave them into something coherent. Think of this as your literary toolkit!
First, let me ask you this: If you could write a book about absolutely anything, what would it be? Got your answer? Great—that’s exactly what you should be writing about. Why? Because that’s your passion. Passion is the fuel that drives a book to be great. If you, the author, are daydreaming about your own story, obsessing over the characters, and getting excited about the twists, then your in the perfect direction. Now all you need is an audience to share it with—preferably one that’s not just your mum saying, “It’s amazing!" (though she counts too).
How to find inspiration and ideas?
There are various factors for finding inspiration to bring your new book to life, these are the few that worked for me:
Music: It might sound silly, but it's true. Ever listened to a song and thought, "This is exactly what my main character would listen to." Boom—you’ve just unlocked a creative thought. Build on that. Find tracks for your villains, your sidekicks, even the barista who serves your hero their life-changing drink. It makes creating a Spotify playlist for your book ridiculously fun.
Movies/TV Shows: Take a page (pun intended) from the directors who inspire you. Maybe it’s Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending storytelling, films have the same style but are all different. He could inspire you. Or, if you’re like me and obsessed with Marvel and comedies, mash those two categories together. Imagine a superhero cracking jokes in a romantic comedy.
Videogames: This one’s for all the gamers. Think about a game you love and how you’d write an even better story for that game. Pretend you are creating the story of a new game. Doing this will help you visualize how the world and characters would look. Before you know it, you’ve got the skeleton of your new book.
Superpower advice for writing a book.
My favourite advice when writing a book is to overthink everything. Yes, everything. That one minor plot detail you were going to pass over? Obsess about it. The character who seems too nice? Question them like they’ve got something to hide. Overthinking is how you stumble into mind-blowing plot twists and betrayals that leave your readers gasping (and possibly throwing your book across the room—but in a good way). And don’t forget to ask yourself "What if..." constantly. What if the villain isn’t who you think they are? What if your hero’s best friend is actually the antagonist? Overthinking might drive you a little bit crazy, but it’ll make your story unforgettable.
Now for the planning. How on Earth do you sketch out a book? Well, it's quite simple. I rely on Google Keep for pretty much everything—from story summaries to lists. And when I say lists, I mean a lot of lists. I’ve got lists for characters, plot twists, random dialogue, and, occasionally, completely unrelated thoughts like “Do penguins have knees?”. Whenever an idea pops into your head, jot it down immediately. Yes, even if it’s 3 a.m. and you’re half-asleep, or you’re awkwardly pretending to take a call at the cinema just so you can dictate your amazing plot twist into your phone. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than forgetting that genius idea.
Once you have finished writing the book, the real fun begins— revision. Revise it as many times as you need because, no matter how careful you are, there will always be sppeling mistaces (see what I did there?) What worked for me was revising it myself first and then handing it to someone close to read. Not only do they feel super special having the privilege, but you also get an early opinion. Plus, if they don’t like something, you can always remind them, "It's a draft, relax!"
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