I’m looking for assistance writing a non-fiction book.
I am looking for something like Dramatica Pro 4. I’d like help writing a non-fiction book.
Dramatica Pro is available for the Mac.
You might also consider:
StoryMill ($45)
http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=127
Or search "creative writing" at:
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
I’m 17 years old and I have been working on writing a novel. I have a lot of different ideas and my dream is to be a published author. One day I would also like to publish books of poetry and short stories and maybe even one day writ a screen play.
What I want to know is how you go about writing a novel and how would you get it published?
i found this article online:
I wrote three novels before I got a nibble from a publisher. Several people have asked me how I managed to keep myself motivated, pushing myself to finish each one without any guarantee my work would ever be published. There’s no secret sauce, I’m afraid – it very much depends on your personality and how determined you are to see things through to the bitter end.
So, what does it take to write a novel? Only five or ten percent of those who embark on the process end up with a finished draft, and while I may not be an expert I can at least share the experience from the perspective of someone who has done it before. I can’t promise these tips will work for you, but they might work for the next writer to come across my web site and they certainly work for me.
By the way, my publisher just released a free ebook of my first novel to celebrate the launch of book 4 in the series. Feel free to grab a copy while you’re here!
Skills – First things first. Wanting to write a publishable book is no different to wanting to play an instrument in a top Symphony Orchestra. You need thousands of hours of practice and familiarity with the tools of the trade. In their case, music and instruments. In ours, language and words.
Fortunately writers don’t have to pay for our education. No expensive lessons required … all you have to do is read books. If you want to write fiction, read fiction. The more you read, the more the tricks of the trade will seep in. So, if you suspect your writing isn’t up to scratch, haunt the local library.
Practice – I once considered retelling a favourite book just to get an idea of the level of detail needed. I decided I would duplicate the characters and plot exactly, rewriting the entire book scene by scene in my own words. I never did it, but I still think it could be a very useful technique. After all, you don’t have to worry about plot or characterisation … that’s already been done! (Of course, you couldn’t submit the result to a publisher. This would strictly be for your own consumption.)
Consistency – try and write something every day, no matter how little. I jot down half a dozen sentences, each of which describe a scene I think I’ll have to write soon. When I review them, one of them often fires my imagination and that’s what I start writing about.
Plotting – some people plot out every twist and turn beforehand, and some people just write. Although I’ve always been a ‘write first and think later’ kind of author, I’m slowly coming to appreciate having a detailed outline to work from. One reason is because I now write to deadlines, not just when there’s nothing on TV and the wind is in the right direction. Writing to a plot keeps me on track.
Coming up with a plot is a topic big enough for an article of its own, and you’ll find my take on the whole process here.
Characters – I generally don’t have ‘good’ and ‘evil’ characters in my novels, just people with opposite goals. The conflict this generates is more than enough to escalate things to a satisfactory climax and conclusion. I don’t spend too much time developing bit players, unless they become more important during the writing. If someone’s only going to appear in your book for one paragraph, treat them like a piece of furniture. Also, try and limit the number of characters – sometimes you can combine two moronic henchmen into one – and if your book makes it into film, the casting people will thank you for saving them money. (Hey, it worked for Sleuth.)
Want to get on with it? See my speed writing tips. Includes progress forms for hourly and daily word counts to keep you right on track.
As a general rule your protag should be sympathetic – someone the reader can identify with. I realise that’s difficult if you’re writing about a serial killer, but in those cases the ‘less is best’ rule applies. As in, the less we see inside this monster’s head, the more we fear them. If your killer is familiar and the reader starts to identify with them you’ve destroyed all the tension. That’s why whodunits are called whodunits and not weknowwhodunnits. (Someone asked me this, so … protag = protagonist, the major character.)
Scenes are the story units, and there are one or more of these per chapter. You’ll find a good article on writing the perfect scene here.
Revisions – Don’t bother! Okay, what I mean is… finish writing the book. You will have plenty of time for improvements later, and it’s easy to kill a book by being too critical during the writing process. You’re not trying to produce finished work at this stage – remember, by the time a major publisher releases a book it’s been through several drafts and has also had input from a professional editor and a proof reader. Think of your first draft as a block of raw material, from which you will chip your finished work. Throw everything into it! Don’t worry about inconsistencies and dead ends, they can be trimmed out afterwards. I can’t emphasise this enough: finish
Almost all programs, when running their exe file, write to registry. Is there anyway i can edit the exe or a program i can download that will disallow this certain program from writing to registry?
No. You can’t. Short but true.
You can clean your registry for free with CCleaner though.
I have many ideas and I know a lot about the Forgotten Realms. I would love to write books for them.
Talk to Wizards of the Coast? haha.. they’re the publishing company, so I guess you’d have to discuss this with them.
I live in Vancouver, and wrote a childrens book. Any good places in Vancouver BC to get a book published?
You can publish it yourself and do the transactions online. Get this FREE book publishing guide and a publishing consultant will walk you through the whole process free of charge:
http://www2.xlibris.com/requestkit/index.asp?src=aop&key=qac
You may also check this site that features self-published books on children:
http://publishingthechildinme.blogspot.com/
I hope you find this answer helpful.
i have just finished writing a book,how could i get it published and where would be the best place to publish it ?
It’s fun that you get to see your book published with the same expertise and professionalism as the regular books that you see in bookstores.
If you are looking for self-publishing companies to publish your book, I know of a few companies that practically holds court to everything a book needs from getting you your copyright, size preferences, book cover design customization, layout consultation, copyediting and even marketing – at affordable costs.
Good luck! 