From Idea to Book: Writing Part 2

Hey everyone! Back again with another post in this week’s series. I hope you guys are finding this series useful and I also hope you guys are having good luck getting ready and doing Nano prep this year for those of you participating in Nanowrimo. I usually skip Nano prep but this year I’m actually trying it out and it’s actually pretty nice to feel more prepared for Nanowrimo. But today we are not talking about Nano prep. So, without further ado….

From Idea to Book: Writing Part 2

This week we are going to talk about the second part of writing in the process of taking an idea and turning it into a book. Last week in writing part 1 we talked about writing styles and the development of genre and how those can influence your writing. This week we’re going to talk about places to write in real life and the digital world.

Writing is a huge important part of the writing process, and we talked last week about how your own personal writing style and genre can have an effect on the type of writing you do and how you write. The other thing that can affect your writing is where you do your writing – whether that be in the physical or digital world. So today I’m just going to talk about some places writers have told me they write and how they can be useful for different writers.

Physical Locations

Writers can write anywhere. This is something I was always told as a young writer and while I still don’t argue with the validity of that statement, I think that it is only true with emphasis placed on a certain word. So let me rephrase it. Writers CAN write anywhere but a lot of writers find that certain places can help them to write better than others.

For me personally, I find that I need a place that is semi-stimulating without being overwhelming. Libraries are nice but not the study areas of libraries. These areas are often too quiet with not enough stimulation for me. I can always create my own stimulation in these areas often by eating or chewing on things, but this can affect my computer, so I prefer not to. I find that libraries where there is studying happening but also where other people are walking, or whispering, or looking at books can be the most useful for me. The table areas of University libraries have been the best places for me to write.

Many writers prefer cafes. Even writers like me who need places that are often quieter than coffee shops or cafes can enjoy writing in these areas if we are enough in our head about the ideas. Many of my friends who enjoy writing in cafes have told me that they prefer them because they prefer the smell of the coffee, the music, or just the overall vibe that coffee shops and cafes seem to have around them and their residents.

Another place that many of my writers have told me that they prefer is their own home – often a place with a table. I have found that this is generally workable for me but only when I am the only one at home or in the room. If I want to write in a public space of my place, I usually have to do it when no one is around or take it to a private space like my room which is sometimes more uncomfortable than other spaces.

One more place that I occasionally will hear people tell me that they write but that isn’t as common is parks. This is usually told to me by my friends who do handwriting in notebooks or on paper. These friends say that parks, often in a small camping chair with a makeshift table – are the best places they have found to write. I personally find parks to be a little too loud, with a few too many people, and a few too many bug visitors to be enjoyable.

Digital Locations

A lot of writing happens online. Especially for those who do all their writing on a computer like I have begun to do in recent years. Many writers who write by hand also find themselves doing some writing digitally as they type or digitize the writing that they have done by hand for easier editing or ease of printing, mailing, or emailing to prospective publishers. There are a lot of places to write online. The plethora of places to write online is so long I am not going to go into all of them. I’m simply going to discuss the three that I have used most often.

I typically am a fan of using Microsoft Word for typing my stories, character sheets, book blurbs, world building, and all the other paraphernalia of a book. I have been using Microsoft Word since I was around 8 or 9. One of my earliest memories of using a computer was using my parents’ big desktop computer in the kitchen under the cupboard to type a short story I was writing for my sister painstakingly finger peck by finger peck. This was also when my dad first started showing me how to type properly.

Because I grew up using Microsoft Word, I am the most familiar with Microsoft Word and so I tend to find myself using it the most often to type. I’m not sure if it really has any qualities that the other typing spaces that I have used does not except for my ease and familiarity with it.

The other one that I have used many times before is Google Docs. I really began using Google Docs around the time I was 15 or so because I got my first tablet, and I realized that using my tablet I could access my documents through Google Docs at school and so I began typing all my documents in Google Docs so that I could write them during my lunch breaks and after school while waiting for the bus/parent pick-up. I personally feel like Google Docs is almost exactly the same as Microsoft Word but with just a few adjustments in where the keys are located at the top for things like formatting the page or inserting images.

The last one that I usually advocate for that I actually haven’t used in a while since my computer stopped supporting it (I had an old computer) was Zenwriter. Zenwriter had been one of my favorite apps before my computer could no longer load it. It was a writing app that would allow you to create documents, play calming music, change the background mode, and open multiple tabs all in the writing space. It was an app that was meant to keep you focused on writing while blocking out all external distractions. When you open the app, you can no longer see all the side bars, app tabs, and related stuff on your computer as well as not receiving computer notifications. This app really gave me the ability to sit down and write my stories and ideas down for hours at a time without severe distractions.

Overall, there are a lot of physical and digital places to write your story. And every writer is different. Finding the best of physical and digital writing places can really help you to improve your writing process and help you to get that book done. If you have a digital or physical writing space that is super important to you that I didn’t mention here, feel free to mention it in the comments below.

That’s all for this week’s post. We only have two more in this series to go before we are going to be hitting that stand-alone posts and then the typical hiatus while I prepare for the next series. Let me know if you have any specific requests for the next series. I have a few of my own ideas but I’m always willing to hear from you to know what kind of things you want me to write about! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the link on the bottom of the page. And remember,

Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!