This four part series I hope may inspire someone out there with an idea for a book, to take the next step in implementing their idea.
When I first decided to write a book, I spent time researching different sources to find out how to write a book. It was during quarantine, when I had an "aha" moment from one of my favorite authors, John Grisham. Mr. Grisham would do some Facebook live videos about his upcoming books and different writing topics. In one of these videos, he spoke about how he always started at the beginning of his story. He then stated that his friend Stephen King would start his writing with the ending. I thought this was very interesting, two very successful authors with two very different methods. Other authors, I later learned actually began to write in the middle of the story.
My big take away was that--It didn't really matter how I started as long as I simply started!
So how do you get started? Let's start with your inspiration and message.
The inspiration from my book began while listening to a Trim Healthy Mama podcast (which I highly recommend to those struggling with food issues) and then thinking back to my earlier morning devotion.
If your having trouble with inspiration for story line try the following:
Bible
Nature
Music
Reading
Podcasts
Some may say with fiction the message is not as important, but I think as a Christian our message should always be forefront. I actually had the idea for A Wisp of Faith before I thought about the message. The message and theme for my book came later after listening to some of Kary Oberbrunner's Facebook trainings on writing. He talked about using your pain as your platform--turning your test into a testimony. It was at this point I began to really think and pray about what truths I really wanted to convey to my readers. Some questions to ponder at this point...
What is something I've gone through that could be a help to others?
What am I passionate about?
Once you have your beautiful big idea, then it's time to hammer out some details with the dreaded research. Don't tell anyone, but I surprisingly enjoyed this next part of the writing journey....