How do YOU prepare to write a book?

[Tzaphkiel]

one book I kept hearing in my head, and it was quite persistent, so I wrote it down so I could think about something else

one book I was wandering through the bookstore, and getting annoyed that I couldn't find a book on a certain topic, and quite clearly I heard in my head in response to my complaints "write it yourself" and so I did

one book i wrote after reading a book that i particularly liked, i wrote in the style of that author

one book i wrote after hearing a song that stuck in my head, it arranged itself into a book

[Basiliximab]

Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel

one book I was wandering through the bookstore, and getting annoyed that I couldn't find a book on a certain topic, and quite clearly I heard in my head in response to my complaints "write it yourself" and so I did

That's exactly why I wrote my first book--I kept getting annoyed going through books and not reading what I wanted, so one day I just thought--well, I guess I can just write it myself. So that's what I ended up doing.

The second one started with this really clear scene in my head, and I became captivated by the idea that went with it. It just went on from there.

Both of them I just love going back to and reading over and over again (thankfully, they're both rather short novels).

[Tzaphkiel]

Originally Posted by Basiliximab

The second one started with this really clear scene in my head, and I became captivated by the idea that went with it. It just went on from there.

yes, that is enthralling, isn't it? the sense of having to write it down, and follow it, to see where it goes and how it turns out! i love that. the scenes and people really do take on a life of their own.

[i'm wondering along those lines if anyone ever AVOIDS writing something out of trepidation or concern or nervousness about it turning out differently than you might want? that's a thread I may go start, so I don't derail this one. off i go...]

[Basiliximab]

Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel

yes, that is enthralling, isn't it? the sense of having to write it down, and follow it, to see where it goes and how it turns out! i love that. the scenes and people really do take on a life of their own.

Goodness, do they! I usually go in with a scene I'll want to write, but have some writing to do before I can get to it. Come the end of the night, I'll have written pages of stuff with no idea where it came from. Its like the characters are people in my head writing their own little story, and I'm just the instrument through which its written.