How Writers Prepare to Write Books

Your writer friend/family member tells you they’re preparing to write a book. You’re happy for them, but you’re not sure what that entails. Do they need to plan the book before writing it? Why are they talking about character interviews? And if you find them googling “did ancient Polynesians use utensils,” is that preparation or procrastination? Writers’ friends and family members, if you’ve ever wondered how writers prepare to write books, this blog is meant for you.

The caveat: all authors have different writing processes. One thing that heavily influences pre-writing prep is whether authors identify as “plotters” or “pantsers.” Plotters plan out what they’re going to write beforehand, whereas pantsers write “by the seat of their pants,” discovering the story as they go and adding structure later. Both are valid ways to write books. I’m a plotter, so this blog will favor methods more likely to be used by plotters at the preparation stage and pantsers during the revision stage. However, any writer may use any of these methods at any point, and it’s important to note that writers often change their strategy from book to book. This blog will give you a broad grasp of the steps your writer friend/family member may be taking in preparing to write their book.

Research

Many writers do research before beginning to write. For example, while writing Knife and Shell, my Little Mermaid retelling set in a Polynesia-inspired world, I researched topics like types of islands (to find the right setting for the story) and food distribution processes in ancient Polynesia (to set up story-level conflict) Since I was writing a retelling, I also researched the original story, read several modern retellings, and dug into the folklore of mermaids, nereids, and sea nymphs. I watched movies, listened to podcasts and music, and found artwork as part of my research. Research isn’t limited to fantastical worlds, though. When I wrote a contemporary romance novel about a road trip, I used the street view function on Google Maps to get a feel for the towns the story took place in. There are many additional research avenues writers may pursue prior to writing. However, this is also the area writers tend to get bogged down in. It may be helpful to gently encourage your writer friend/family member to move forward with their story if you notice they’re stalling at the research stage.

World-building

Every story takes place somewhere, and world-building can utilize any research the writer undertook. World-building entails choosing a primary setting, such as an island, a high school drama club, or a futuristic planet, and identifying key aspects of that setting that will be important to the story. Writers may mock up maps, make up languages, or fill out questionnaires for their world (I answered 200+ questions about my human and merfolk worlds for Knife and Shell). Depending on the genre, a writer has different world-building aspects to consider: a fantasy country’s magic system, a historical era’s dress and etiquette, or a contemporary high school’s social landscape.

Plot Structure

Writers vary in how much they plan a story before writing it, but if the writer is a plotter, they’ll typically have some structure in place. That may be as detailed as a scene-by-scene breakdown with key moments noted in each scene or as loose as charting what will happen at major points of the story. As a detail-obsessed plotter, I stress when I don’t know where my story is going, so I opt for detailed plans (Save The Cat! Writes A Novel by Jessica Brody was instrumental to learn to plot). Conversely, since pantsers chafe at the rigidity of outlines, they usually keep things looser at the planning stage.

Characters

Writers think up and get to know their characters in a variety of ways. They may fill out questionnaires about them, have fictional conversations with them, or use their characters’ perspectives to respond to writing prompts. I like to assign my characters positive and negative traits using resources like The Positive Trait Thesaurus and The Negative Trait Thesaurus. Regardless of how they get there, all writers must figure out what their main character both wants and needs. What they want drives the external plot, or what happens in the story, and what they need drives the internal transformation the character makes as a result of what happens.

While this blog can’t encompass all forms of writing preparation, hopefully now you have a feel for what your writer friend/family member is doing before they get words on the page. If you enjoyed this article on how writers prepare to write books, click here to join my monthly newsletter to get fun emails about writing, books, and other magical things straight to your inbox.