I wrote a book called The Final Six Days. It is a full length novel about 438 pages. Note that I am a software engineer by trade and not a writer, but I took a stab at it since I've always wanted to write a book.
Here are my takeaways:
1. If took me 8 months from idea to published novel (self-published on Amazon).
2. I used a variation of the snowflake method, as my analytical and natural tendency to architect solutions was a good fit for me. The process was: paragraph, outline (by chapter), short story.
3. Writing the book itself is fun and mind stimulating, it only took me 2 months (about an average of 2 hours per day). It was my favorite part of the process.
4. Editing took me 4 months, and it was the most painful, dreadful, unstimulating, and daunting task I ever had to do. Imagine writing code for months, then self-QA'ing your code. Yes, it's that bad. Hire someone (even a spouse or loved-one) to help you.
5. You will find when you go from short story to full story, your story will mutate into something far more beautiful and deeper than you can imagine. It's because when you write continuously without stopping, ideas just flow out from your subconscious.
6. No matter how many times you read your own novel, you will never, ever, ever find every possible mistake, syntax (i.e. misspelling, misused word, etc), or otherwise. Get a pro to help you.
7. Every reader you invite to read your draft will inevitably come back with a ton of feedback, much of it negative (and unnecessarily nitpicky). Ignore most of it. Write the novel you want to write.
8. No matter what, don't give up. If you get writer's block just have a beer, and come back to it tomorrow.
9. Have your cover professionally designed. Yes, a cover does matter.
Bonus: I read a book called Writing the Breakout Novel that was a huge help, perfect for an engineering mind. It's very technical in nature and deals with ensuring each chapter has enough intrigue. It also takes about character development, POV, etc. I rewrote many areas after that. Everyone I know who read my book has done so from beginning to end so I did something right.
I planned on writing an article on Medium at some point getting into more details about the process, specifically from an engineering point of view.
Here are my takeaways:
1. If took me 8 months from idea to published novel (self-published on Amazon).
2. I used a variation of the snowflake method, as my analytical and natural tendency to architect solutions was a good fit for me. The process was: paragraph, outline (by chapter), short story.
3. Writing the book itself is fun and mind stimulating, it only took me 2 months (about an average of 2 hours per day). It was my favorite part of the process.
4. Editing took me 4 months, and it was the most painful, dreadful, unstimulating, and daunting task I ever had to do. Imagine writing code for months, then self-QA'ing your code. Yes, it's that bad. Hire someone (even a spouse or loved-one) to help you.
5. You will find when you go from short story to full story, your story will mutate into something far more beautiful and deeper than you can imagine. It's because when you write continuously without stopping, ideas just flow out from your subconscious.
6. No matter how many times you read your own novel, you will never, ever, ever find every possible mistake, syntax (i.e. misspelling, misused word, etc), or otherwise. Get a pro to help you.
7. Every reader you invite to read your draft will inevitably come back with a ton of feedback, much of it negative (and unnecessarily nitpicky). Ignore most of it. Write the novel you want to write.
8. No matter what, don't give up. If you get writer's block just have a beer, and come back to it tomorrow.
9. Have your cover professionally designed. Yes, a cover does matter.
Bonus: I read a book called Writing the Breakout Novel that was a huge help, perfect for an engineering mind. It's very technical in nature and deals with ensuring each chapter has enough intrigue. It also takes about character development, POV, etc. I rewrote many areas after that. Everyone I know who read my book has done so from beginning to end so I did something right.
I planned on writing an article on Medium at some point getting into more details about the process, specifically from an engineering point of view.
https://www.amazon.com/Final-Days-Time-Crossers-Book-ebook/d...