Have you ever written a book?

[Anonymous]

If so, what was the hardest part. From first word to publishing.

[BCRanger10]

I did... kind of. When I was in 7th grade, I wrote a sci-fi/action novel about me and my classmates all becoming starfighter pilots and fighting evil aliens. Needless to say, I didn't publish it. It was about the quality one might expect from a 13-year-old.

I've been chipping away at a new story idea that I actually would hope to have published sometime. It would be about a prince who rises to power and soon becomes corrupted, paranoid, and overzealous in ruling and fighting his enemies, both within his kingdom and foreign. He gets deposed and exiled and becomes a derelict and cynical drunk. A religious order takes him in. He eventually has a "conversion" and resolves to spend the rest of his life in prayer and penance, which goes well... for a while. A faithful old friend tracks him down and convinces him to return to the kingdom to defeat a vicious ancient enemy. The kingdom's defeat and destruction would have worldwide consequences.

Basically, a hero's journey and story of redemption.

[Asker]

I hope you pull it off bro

[BCRanger10]

Thank you. I'm not sure yet whether it will be on a far-off world or on Earth in distant future after a cataclysmic war. I imagine swordfighting and stuff, but also combat walkers and fighter jets too.

[DaBiggestBird]

I make conga (comic+manga). The first book isn’t done yet and I’m revamping the script for the whole series (not franchise). I thought I was done but looking back it’s kind of dogshit, so I’m writing over the entire thing and adding plenty of new stuff. I’m also going to remake the cover art. I tried imagining the original becoming iconic and a nostalgic trigger decades after the franchise has been going on, which actually wasn’t that hard but it definitely will not hold up. I’m making a new one.

[Anonymous]

Wrote a book, got published, left the company before my contract year was up as to keep the rights to my work. The hardest part for me was figuring out what to do after I finished writing. I had actually planned on self publishing originally!

[Asker]

Thank you for the reply! How did leaving early protect your rights? I would think that it was the opposite.

[Asker]

Sorry, one more question. Is it realistic to write a book, but have someone else essentially rewrite it to make it flow better. As in, I have all of the ideas, and can put them to paper, but I'm not exactly as articulate as an author should be.

[Opinion Owner]

No problem, feel free to ask whatever! I signed a one year contact, and if I left the company after that year was up for whatever reason then I would not leave with the rights to my work. Meaning they could continue to publish and profit off of it. So I left around month 10.

With your second question, are you saying that you’ve written the book but want help making sure it flows well? Or you have the ideas and just not sure how to turn it into a book? Because if it’s the first one, then maybe you just need an editor. Do your research first, but the editor I chose at the time basically gutted my whole book and gave me a ton of revisions, suggestions and so forth.

[Asker]

Thank you so much. I've written roughly 20,000 words worth of notes/diary type entries, that I could convert to properly thought out chapters. Easily double or triple that length. But I have zero background in writing, outside of corporate, technical reporting. Anything I tried to author for the general public would be painfully dry and difficult to read past a few pages. But your response is perfect. I would just need an editor, after I convert the stuff I already have into something that resembles a book. Loose resemblance 😊

[Opinion Owner]

If you have like some rough drafts of this work or any others that you want general feedback on (and don’t mind being out there for the public), I would really advise you post it someplace like Reddit or Wattpad. There’s communities within communities, people with all kinds of backgrounds, a lot of great feedback can be found, I used Wattpad forums at the time.

Of course you could skip all that and just find an editor, but keep in mind that they’re going to edit it regardless of it’s boring or not, sellable or not. So you may benefit from some public feedback before choosing to invest in an editor. 👍

[Asker]

This is amazing advice. Genuinely appreciated ✌️

[AI Opinion]

While I haven't authored a book myself, I've helped many aspiring authors. The toughest part often is maintaining momentum. Starting is thrilling, but sustaining motivation through drafting, rewriting, and editing can be challenging. Balancing creativity with structure, meeting deadlines, and managing self-doubt are common hurdles. A strong support system and dedication can help navigate these challenges effectively.

[HighValue]

I started one in September. I wrote 3 chapters, about 6,500 words. Then I started playing more games and watching a tv series on dvd in my free time so I haven't continued.

If you plan to write one, first go on Amazon's self publishing section where they have pre-formatted word documents in different sizes and use that from the beginning. It can save you a lot of work later on.

[lorenzomichael]

Yeah I wrote the entire bible. Maybe you heard of it.🤣

[Asker]

😲 Jesus? I'm a big fan of your book. And your creation of the American language after founding out beautiful country.

[lorenzomichael]

You’re welcome my son. So what can I bless you with for my birthday?🤣

[Asker]

Drugs. A lot.

[lorenzomichael]

You got it. Thell be in your stocking stuffer.

[Asker]

Hell to the yeah. I guess I'll be having a white Christmas after all

[lorenzomichael]

Yup.😳

[FunkyMonkee]

I've helped write 5 and I'm working on 3 of my own

[Asker]

What would you say was the hardest part from the entire process?

[FunkyMonkee]

Well, because I haven't done one yet on my own, I'd guess getting a publisher would probably be the hardest part but, at least for the one book I helped with, the research was the hardest part for me. It took a good while to get all the information I needed and I had to rely on my neighbor for about 20% to 30% of that. Even then, there were still about 3 or 4 bits of it that were missing. I just couldn't find them. Luckily, someone else did and filled in those few blanks for me.

[KrakenAttackin]

I have written policy and procedure manuals.

[Asker]

Same. This is my writing background, which is absolutely not suited for published books. Imagine Policy/SOP levels of humidity from a full on book...

[KrakenAttackin]

Agreed.

[Nikki1989]

No, songs, lyrics, poetry but no books.

[Jackblue]

Getiing the first few hundred words out

[Asker]

The best news I could hear considering the circumstances

[Pupweb]

I would like to to.

[exitseven]

No but I think that I could write one.

[notCryHONEY]

I wrote a storybook when I was a kid :' )

[KostasKouvalis]

They were more stories than books

[kaucky1]

Doubled myself to use the skin for Necronomicon

[Anonymous]

Nope, not yet.

[paledreams]

Lol I wrote drsfts

[paledreams]

Drafts + then realised it's awful

[Asker]

Did you try crowd sourcing some feedback or was it so and that you couldn't even go that far