Designing a book

copyright Kim Smith

Designing a book has been called by many names. Some people plan a book, some people brainstorm a book, some people (like myself) design a book. And 80 % of that creation happens in my head. I haven't ever even put a word into written form and a lot of the story has already been written in my head.

Some aspiring authors, and some avid readers, have asked

HOW DO YOU DESIGN A BOOK?

and here is a little tidbit to chew on...

Most writers do their design work through outlining, blogs, and social media site posts.
SCREECH! What?????

Yes.

They start thinking about what they want to write and the next thing you know they are posting about it online somewhere. They are talking about the idea guts. I do this myself. I will decide to write about a displaced ant family in a fantasy story and what do you think I am discussing on my blog? Ants. Especially if I am a Myrmecologist and know a lot about them. Reader beware, this is how you can tell what an author is going to tackle next. What are they blabbering on about everywhere???

Outliners will build the story in their outline by thinking about who, what, where, when and how. Most big projects are outlined.

Some things for authors who are in this stage to think about:
1. get the basics down on paper(on screen)-theme, characters, ending so you don't forget them
2. carry a notebook-crucial when designing your work

In summary,
1. 80% of creation phase happens in our head
2. most of that thought process ends up on screen on blogs, social media sites, etc. while we are still designing
3. there are a few tools that a writer can remember to help when they are designing, such as carrying a notebook

Hope this helps you!