It’s true…
Writing a book is overwhelming for new authors.
Susie wants to write her first book. She’s joined several Facebook groups. She listens to some of the best podcasts. She’s purchased lots of books.
But she’s still confused as to how to get started?
Does she need an outline?
Is she a panster?
How will she know what to write?
Does she pick a genre?
Maybe she should give up before she gets started.
She confided her frustrations to her friend Jose when he called. Jose was almost finished with his first book. He knew how Susie felt. That was him not long ago.
Jose told Susie about an article he read last week on outlining in Indie Author Magazine. “You can keep the best of both plotting and pantsing. You don’t have to choose. They talked all about it in the May issue. That’s what I’m going to try for book 2.” he said.
“That sounds interesting. Are you sure it’s not too complicated for me?”
“No! Not at all, it’s perfect. Go to indieauthormagazine/s and you can subscribe. A subscription isn’t much, and well worth every penny.”
“Let me pull that up right now. IndieAuthorMagazine/s?”
“Yes”
“I see it! Thanks, Jose.”
A few weeks later, Jose found Susie at a coffee shop; laptop open and typing. He smiled and wandered over after his tea and cake were ready.
“Hey Susie!” he greeted her when she paused to drink her coffee.
“Jose! How are you?”
“I’m well. How are you? You seem hard at work.”
“Great! I took your advice and subscribed to IAM. That outlining article was so helpful. Thank you so much for telling me about it. Have a seat.”
“Thank you, and you’re welcome. I’m glad you found it useful. You’re working on your book then?”
“Yes, and if you’re boring, I’m back to writing!”
“Of course,” Jose laughed. “What are you writing?”
“Well, I was going to write a romance, but they also had an article about mystery tropes in the issue and that was so interesting, I thought I would try a mystery. I always wanted to be Nancy Drew, and now’s my chance.”
“That’s awesome! I look forward to reading it. How far are you?”
“About 20,000 words now. Are you here to write?”
“No, I’ve finished mine. I’m editing. I’m here for a change of scenery.”
“You want to get to it then? I’ve just thrown my heroine a plot twist and I’m eager to get back to her.”
“Sounds great. I need to get this done this afternoon so I can get it to my editor this week.”
“Let’s get to it then.”
Jose opened his laptop and soon both were hard at work.
