Dear reader,
If you’re here, it’s either because I forced you to read my blog because you’re my friend/family or you’re genuinely interested in writing a book. In the rare case that it’s the latter, I’m so excited that you’re committing to your writing journey! YIPPEE!
So you’re thinking of writing a book, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably neurotic like me and like to know what you’re getting into before you do it. Otherwise, you’d already have an empty document in front of you concocting some work of literary genius. Writing a book — or anything really — is a daunting task, and it’s something many say they’ve always wanted to do but never do it. But how do you start off?
You need a story. You can write a story about absolutely anything. Even the most complex stories can be boiled down to a few simple words. Harry Potter is about a boy who finds out he’s a wizard. Game of Thrones is about a bunch of people vying for power. The Hunger Games is about a girl who gets thrown into an arena to kill a bunch of other kids. Sure, there’s political drama and intrigue and themes and complex subplots that they all explore, but that all comes later.
First, you need an idea. What the heck do you write about? You can find a story anywhere. If you already have an idea, great! But if you’re struggling on what to write about, scrolling through Pinterest and making playlists based on vibes can only go so far. There are so many stories in the world, and it’s honestly really difficult to come up with something original. The way you make it original is by you writing it. And if you’re here to find a good AI prompt to generate ideas or write a book for you, you’ve come to the wrong place.
I get ideas for stories in various ways, and hopefully some methods work out for you. The biggest way is to start off with a what-if question. This is how I got the idea for Untold. What if the villains of popular fairy tales really weren’t the villains? What if a kid found out he’s the son of a god? Then you get Percy Jackson. What if there’s a ring that has a lot of power? The Lord of the Rings. Now that I’ve stripped down your favorite series, you can really see that there’s not much to it when you get a seedling of an idea. It all starts with a simple question. How can I get my reader to see something they wouldn’t have seen otherwise? A simple way to start is to write what you want to read.
I grew up on YA Fantasy and Sci-Fi of the 2010s-20s, so my first few books were that. There were A LOT of overused tropes and predictable plotlines, but because I was young, I had the blessing of the inability to judge myself. Everyone says this, but allow yourself to write badly. You can’t edit a blank page. Write what you know.
If you’re not able to ask what-if questions like that, get bored. Like, really, really bored. Like stare at the wall and watch paint dry while singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall kind of bored. If you can bear it — and you should if you want to be a writer — turn off your phone, don’t listen to anything, don’t do anything, and just sit. Sit and drift off. Allow yourself to daydream like you used to back in high school math class. Your brain will dredge something up to spare itself from boredom, and trust me. Your brain hates being bored. This is how I got the idea for my WIP (Work in Progress).
If you can’t ask silly questions or bear to get bored, go on walks, or showers, or sleep, or talk to someone. Whenever I get stuck in my writing, I always talk to my mom. She offers me new perspectives I wouldn’t have seen otherwise and gets me back on track. Talking to a friend, family member, or anyone who will listen can help. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be inspired by the barista who has your order memorized and can be the main character of your next story.
I find writing prompts also help. I used to hate them, because why am I writing about something someone told me to? But I’ve grown fond of them ever since using them in my creative writing class at university. You can definitely look up prompts online, but the best ones I find happen naturally. Go outside, pick a person/object, and write their backstory. Look at a random photo, vintage or modern, and write about it. Get out of your comfort zone and write about literally anything that comes to mind for at least 30 minutes. There’s this thing called “motivated perception” where you see what you want to see. If you think about getting a yellow car, you’ll find yellow cars everywhere? In the same vein, if you think about writing and stories all the time, ideas that you never would’ve considered will spring out of the blue. If you don’t believe me, don’t try it, but trust me, it works wonders. Even if you write absolute garbage initially, keep doing it long enough and you’ll find something worthwhile.
Last but certainly not least, I find journaling has been a tremendous help. I’ve kept a journal since June of 2024, and I’d say I’ve been fairly consistent in using it. I’m almost through my second diary now. I write about anything that comes to my mind, which usually revolves around what happened in my life and how I feel about it. It clears my thoughts, so I have space for more productive ones, like my book or this blog.
Hopefully, you know what to write about by this point. And if scrolling Pinterest and making playlists helps you get ideas, by all means, go ahead! Just don’t use excuses to say you’re writing when you’re really not. Finish what you start. And now that you’ve finished reading this, start writing something of your own. And finish it. We’ll talk more about plotting/pantsing and actually developing this brand new idea of yours next week.
Until then,
Vasundhara Jayender