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I want to write and publish a book


  • NeverLovedYou94
    Jun 16 9:38 PM
    Reply
    But my problem is that I come up with an idea and write it down in a journal but I never come back to it and when i do I don't write about that topic.I also have no clue what teenagers would be into reading pretty much no one in my school reads and I hardly read.... so any help is greatly apperciated

  • KodyBoye
    June 17 ↑
    Reply
    Er... you hardly read, yet you want to write, and publish a book?

    Better turn that around quickly.

    Honestly, write what you'd want to read, not what other people would. I will say though, don't start with a novel--do short stories first. I started with novels and it hasn't done me any good. You write one, then a year later, you're reediting it from top to bottom (hardcore editing) because your style changed so much.

    That's why short stories are good. You can write fifty, or a hundred, different ones a year, whereas you can only write three or four novels. You learn more from those short stories than you do hose novels.

    • Oddities
      June 17 ↑
      Reply

      lol

      "whereas you can only write three or four novels."

      do you not sleep?

      • Kevan
        June 17 ↑
        Reply
        That made me laugh too
        I've yet to finish one, and he writes 2-3 a year.

        • Barbara
          June 17 ↑
          Reply
          Since May 17, 2007, I've written 8 novels. Four were from May - Dec 2007. Sometimes you hit that groove, and everything works... other times, you don't, and spend 1 1/2 years finishing the other four novels And the last two I had to force myself to finish

          Just do a novel of short stories, each one connecting to the next story, or a basic theme... before you know it, a novel!!

          • KodyBoye
            June 17 ↑
            Reply
            Just do a novel of short stories, each one connecting to the next story, or a basic theme... before you know it, a novel!!

            Barbara makes a very good point there. Ray Bradbury--one of the most well-known authors of our time--started out this way. This is why I said to start out with short stories. It's better to have to rewrite fifty two/three-thousand word stories than four fifty/sixty-thousand-word novels.

      • KodyBoye
        June 17 ↑
        Reply
        I do, lol.

        I go through curves of whether or not I write, like Barbara said. I havne't finished a novel this year, but my dark fantasy novel is at 126,000 words, and my horror novel (almost finished) is at 65-70-thousand.

        I wrote 400,000 words last year. I've written close to 300,000 this year.

        lol.

  • Barbara
    June 17 ↑
    Reply
    "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut."
    -- Stephen King, On Writing

  • Oddities
    June 17 ↑
    Reply

    why?

    if you don't read, why do you even want to be a writer?

  • KodyBoye
    June 17 ↑
    Reply
    Note: This is not to dissuade you from your wanting to write, NeverLovedYou. Most people here are friendly and will give you proper, well-thought-out advice. It's up to you to decide what you use or what you don't use.

  • shadowchild25
    June 18 ↑
    Reply
    What do you like to write? You have ideas, you said- follow through with those. As for what other people like to read (though I agree with KodyBoye, you should write for yourself first, an audience second), you should get out there and read a few yourself. Sci-fi and Fantasy are bigs ones currently for the younger generation. If that's up your alley, you should go to your local library and check a few of those out. In the area of preteen-early teen, I just read an interesting series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I also read a good teen series called the Mortal Instruments? www.mortalinstruments.com . Well, I've read part of it, at least. Both seemed to have a pretty decent following, which is what you're looking for, I guess.
    My suggestion for you, regarding how to continue your stories would be to build a specific character within one of those ideas, and then get to know that character well. Try using that character in different ideas, try creating more around that character. Once you find an idea and create a GOOD character to go along with it, your character will take on a life of their own.
    These are just minor suggestions, a drop in the sea. You could also check out a book on writing and see where that takes you. The world will be yours.
    Good luck!
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