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How to Turn Your Book Idea into Money in the Bank, Step 4: The Soundtrack to Your Writing

Welcome back to our journey from Book Idea to Money in the Bank! So far we have covered (1) the vital and exciting Step of fantasizing your idea into life inside your mind (2) the importance of outlining your idea and everything you need in that outline (3) and finally we examined the actual act of writing in all its glorious and dirty detail. Today let’s discover the Soundtrack to your Writing.

As I’m sure you know, music can be motivating. The right song can make you feel invincible or full of ambition. Where it concerns writing, music is especially important; tracking down the right tunes and sounds help to place you in the proper motivated mindset. Certain tracks and genres can even enhance a scene if you listen to them while writing.

MUSIC TO WRITE BY

Some literary artists swear by their Enya or Meditation music; a number claim that only ocean sounds work for them; a few writers praise the focusing power of techno or alternative; still others swear by absolute silence—or by the natural sounds of the world.

J.K. Rowling created the world of Harry Potter inside a busy café (The Elephant House), as British baristas slung java and patrons groaned over their busy schedules. It seems incredible to me that anyone could write anything worthwhile in a crowded place. Probably it will remain a mystery to me. But it sure worked for her. Whatever works for you, go for it.

Here we are interested in extolling the virtues of discovering the right soundtrack for your novel writing experience.

So, onward and upward, my fellow travelers.

Music can drown out distractions from the world around the writer, so that she can focus on the world inside. The right music can enhance a scene as it is being written. According to PSYBLOG, listening to music boosts your verbal IQ—a clear benefit for any writer trying to get her point across. (Astute writers read their work aloud, as they know that verbalizing reveals awkward dialogue and poorly structured phrasing.)

IT’S INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL

Continue reading “How to Turn Your Book Idea into Money in the Bank, Step 4: The Soundtrack to Your Writing”

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How to Turn Your Book Idea into Money in the Bank, Part 3: Writing

In the first article of this series in turning your book idea into money, we covered the pleasurable Step of conceiving your book idea and fantasizing it to life.

In the second we explored the vital usefulness of outlining, and how this Step will make the job of writing that much easier and quicker. In this post we will examine the actual writing of your brilliant idea, illuminating the methods to the madness of this solitary activity, ways to create compelling opening lines, and how you can make it all a successful breeze.

WRITING YOUR BRAINS OUT IS FUN

It can be intimidating, staring at that blank sheet of paper, or that empty white screen with its evil blinking cursor.

But you have everything you need to begin. You’ve conceived your idea. You’ve fantasized about it, molded it, outlined it to the point where you could name the type of grass your second-tier character is standing on while exposing a shocking truth late in the seventh chapter.

And yet, a roadblock remains: how to begin?

Beginning a 100,000 word novel (hopefully your first is not much longer than this or you risk scaring away prospective literary agents) can be a daunting task, and sometimes even more intimidating than writing the rest of it.

No matter how hard I try to perfect that opening line/sentence/chapter, and no matter how pleased I am with it at first, I always end up returning to it. Through a series of edits and revisions, my opening lines rarely survive unaltered. After years of reading and writing and study, I finally stumbled on 2 valuable solutions to this dilemma. Allow me to share them with you now. They are:

  1. Don’t spend days or weeks agonizing over your opening words. DON’T. Once you write your ending, you’ll feel compelled to rewrite the beginning. So just write whatever feels comfortable; you’ll end up editing it anyway.
  2. Wherever you think it is you should begin, ask yourself: Is this really where my story begins, or do things take off after this? Does this opening jive with the rest of my narrative? If it stands alone—cool, contrived, disconnected—it needs to be rewritten.

Blasé Pascal wrote: ‘The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first.’

As you will be coming back to rectify any weaknesses or inconsistencies in your opening, you might want to give yourself a break here, and just start writing already. You’ll have a better idea where to start once you’ve ended. It sounds contrary, I know, but it makes sense. You’ll see. Becca Puglisi of writershelpingwriters offers some tips on openings. Continue reading “How to Turn Your Book Idea into Money in the Bank, Part 3: Writing”

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How to Turn Your Book Idea into Money in the Bank, Part 1: Conception

Hello writers/self-publishers! Let’s jump right into a new series. Take it to the Bank is my latest resource for helping new writers develop their careers in the most frugal manner possible.

Each of these 9 posts will provide you with a quick exploration of successive chapters in the book, with links and helpful tips provided throughout.

The AHA Moment
Today we are exploring Conception–a titillating subject. One of the great joys of writing is first conceiving your book idea, that ‘aha’ moment, when inspiration strikes like Cupid’s arrow and you want nothing more than a few hot minutes to explore the idea.

When it strikes, everything else seems to stop. You must take advantage of this moment and jot down your idea.

The physical act of recording your inspiration will reinforce its importance in your mind, firmly establishing it in your memory cortex and moving it from a fleeting short-term thought to a vital initiative on which your creative mind will unconsciously dwell.

Fantasize About It

Remember when your school teachers snapped at you for fantasizing during class? Well, they were wrong-o! The best thing you can do at this point in your journey from Idea to Money in the Bank is to fantasize about it.

Let your mind wander down twisted corridors of imagination. Let it stroll through ancient enchanted forests. Let it lead you down the path of most resistance, where difficult quesitons are not merely examined, but hoisted, weighed, smelled, licked, and smashed with Nordic hammers. Let your mind fill up with scenes and plotlines. Let it run amuck.

Reader’s Digest has a nice simple post showing you 5 ways to come up with story ideas, while Ali Luke of Aliventures (who also wrote Publishing E-Books for Dummies) provides a comprehensive list of methods for you.

We explore in greater detail the importance of fantasizing your idea into an entire world, fully supported by characters and social systems and history, in the first step of Take it to the Bank, recently published and available for a short period for only .99 cents, here.

Enjoy, and have fun conjuring your idea into a book that will–through 8 more steps–lead to money in the bank!