Writing- where to start?

[viixie]

I am completely new to this and was wondering if anyone who has written a book can please spare me a little time? I was wondering what you used to write your book? Was it a laptop and Microsoft word etc?

Where did you start? How did you plan it? Was it a random idea? Was it a success?

I've always dreamed of writing a book. I currently have a year off for maternity leave and feel this would be the perfect time I just need to motivate myself. I also need to be able to write whilst feeding a baby 🤨

I wrote my book (hoping to self publish later this year) both by hand and using word. I am a touch typist but found that sometimes ideas flowed by writing them down and typing them up later.

For me, a significant event spurred me on to write. It was something I enjoyed doing as a child and I'd forgotten about it. I was looking for a creative outlet and joined a creative writing evening class. I had no plans to write my novel then but the idea came to me one day and I knew more or less what I wanted to write. Some of the characters in my novel had their own ideas about how they wanted to behave, so I started writing them in one way and they took the lead.

A lot of the time, I wrote when my baby napped. I knew this was my window of opportunity to write and seized it (it was easier when baby was napping for longer and it became more predictable). Also, whilst pushing pram around etc. it gave me thinking time. It is certainly possible to start writing but it might take longer. It took me a few years to complete my novel (not necessarily the first draft but all the editing involved - be prepared for the editing!).

I think for me, the thing that drove me on was a) it was very cathartic and I needed an outlet b) I needed some mental stimulation c) the slight possibility that it might help someone else.

Don't know yet whether it will be a success (commercially) - this is unlikely. But honestly, it already feels like a big achievement and something I'm proud of. I have needed to work on my identity and writing has helped. I have met some lovely people through writing including my best friend. I hope to meet more. I constantly feel like I'm learning about new things and about myself. I started writing for me (and not for commercial reasons) and it still feels that way but it would be great if others liked it too. I have paid to have a cover designed and a copy edit and for me, it was money well spent. I am holding my paperback book in my hand (in draft form, yet to press the publish button) but it will happen.

Working on a second book. I have 3 dcs of varying ages and youngest has just outgrown naps (sob) but will be starting pre-school later in the year (all being well)...it will take a long time but it's okay, there's no rush.

Good luck and enjoy.

Sorry for the epic post. Watching with interest.

I write on Word. I know there are other place to write, but I know what I can do on Word. Things like the search button are very good for finding the double space or discovering that you used the word "just" 4567 times in less than 80k words.

I don't generally plan. I dream. So I start with a germ of an idea. A conversation, a place, a scene. I imagine that happening in different ways until I can picture it.
Then the story expands from there.

It depends on the story. Sometimes they tell themselves. I'll write a chapter a night, and spend the day imagining the next chapter.
Sometimes they require more thought, a bit of research and I find them harder. Those I'll often spend two or three days mulling over before I know what's happening.