Transcript:

Have you ever had a great idea for a book… but no clue how to actually turn it into a full story? While many writers struggle with even coming up with ideas in the first place, there are many more who have amazing ideas that they just don’t know what to do with.

If you have ever come up with a great idea for a book but struggle to put words on the page, don’t worry I’ve got you.

In today’s video, I’m breaking down three simple steps to take your idea from a spark to a completed draft and beyond.

Hi, I’m C. Sloan Lewis and Welcome to My Channel

If you’re new here, please take a moment to subscribe to see more videos about writing. It really helps out my channel a lot. And if you enjoy this video, be sure to give it a like at the end. If you’re interested in following me on social media, you can find me by searching C. Sloan Lewis and be sure to check out my website, authorcsloanlewis.com. With that out of the way, let’s jump into today’s video!

Develop the Core Concept

Our first step is to take your brilliant idea and turn it into a core concept. You need to ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is this story about?
• What’s the conflict?
• What makes it unique?

These are questions that will make up the bulk of your book blurb, but don’t let yourself get too intimidated by this first part. Just let yourself answer these questions off the cuff. Nothing is set in stone and you can always tweak or replace things as your ideas and writing develop.

To keep yourself from over-writing in this step, aim to create just a one-sentence pitch by answering these questions. This is a pitch to yourself only, so no stress. But this isn’t far off from what you would do for an elevator pitch for an agent, so it’s good practice to get into now.

The formula for this is [Character] must [goal] despite [obstacle].

For instance, in the Hunger Games: Katniss must save her sister despite volunteering for the deadly Hunger Games.

Or from the Pirates of the Caribbean: Will Turner must rescue Elizabeth despite not wanting anything to do with pirates.

And for a final example, in Lord of the Rings: Frodo must take the One Ring to Mordor despite being a tiny little dude who doesn’t know how to fight.

The reason why we want to clearly establish your core concept at the get-go is because it makes sure you have an idea that is 1) feasible and 2) something that has potential. If your idea stays vague and open-ended, you’re going to get stuck along the way.

Create a Roadmap

Speaking of that idea, now that we have our core concept, we need to know where the heck we’re going. Whether you’re an outliner or discovery writer, you’re still going to need a clear path forward to prevent the dreaded writer’s block.

But if you’re super new to the writing game, you’re going to need to figure out which type of planning method works for you. Are you someone who loves detailed outlines with every step mapped out before you write? Do you like to just jump right in and see where the words take you?

It might take you some time to really figure this out, but I would highly recommend trying out different methods of planning and researching the difference between planners and pantsers.

Regardless of style, you still need a road map —at least once you get serious about this book idea.

Discovery writers, here me: you still need to understand what the structure of your book is going to be. Don’t be like me, don’t make my mistakes: nowhere the heck you’re going.

Okay, now that my pleading is out of the way, here’s the basic structure you need, at the very least, for your story’s roadmap:

• The beginning: where you introduce your protagonist and other main characters, lay out the world and any expositions that needs to be addressed.
• The middle: where you establish challenges, raise the stakes, and throw in a plot twist or two.
• The end: where you wrap up lose ends and have a satisfying resolution.

At this point, my biggest recommendations are Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Blueprint for a Book to help you with this, which I have added links to below this video.

Also, for my discovery writers who would argue that this takes the fun out of writing, let me tell you that there is so much more to discover than what will be on your roadmap. You might write: “And then the best friend betrays the hero.” but you still have no idea what that betrayal might be or what happens around that. So, have fun with that and make a dang roadmap.

Commit to Writing

Did you think the third step was going to be to write? Because it is. Even if you have the most amazing idea the literary world has ever seen, it means nothing if you don’t write it.

But that’s easier said than done, which is why I wanted to break down this third step into tips to help you do just that.

1. Set realistic writing goals – I know you’re excited about this idea, but it’s highly unlikely you will be able to write an entire book in just a few months. Instead, give yourself six months to a year for the entire novel, and create smaller goals like 2,000 words a week or three chapters a month, whatever works best for you. Personally, I set time goals —that way, I don’t have to worry about how much I write during a session and can just enjoy the process.
2. Find a writing routine that works for you – mornings, evenings, lunch breaks, set a time of day or days of the week that work best for you.
3. Overcome common excuses keeping you from writing – If you have a grand idea, but have never written anything like it, our brain likes to try to talk us out of it. In fact, our brains like to talk us out of a lot of things, especially because writing in and of itself is hard.
4. Let your freak flag fly – no matter how detailed your roadmap, have fun with writing your first draft and just let the creativity flow. No one is going to read this first draft, so don’t let it stop you from following your heart.

If you do these things, you’re sure to have that amazing idea written out into a completed manuscript.

Just to recap, when you’re unsure what to do with this fantastic idea you got while driving, taking a shower, dreaming, what have you, all you need to do is follow the three steps we talked about today: develop your core idea, create a roadmap, and commit to writing.

Your book isn’t going to be written overnight, but at least with these steps, you will be able to write your novel with as little friction as possible.

That’s all from me today, guys. If you liked this video, please be sure to thumbs up and subscribe to my channel to support me and get informed about new videos, which I post every Saturday. But you’ve got some writing to do, so I’ll see you in the next video. Ta-ta!