# How do you write a book? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374 "2009-02-18T05:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/21 "2009-02-20T02:11:06Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Start writing it as you would any other paper using proper sentence and paragraph structure. Isn’t that what editors are for? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/22 "2009-02-20T03:15:04Z")
I know you mean it as a joke, but there are people who think editors take your raw prose and rewrite it. That’s the writer’s job; if the book requires editing, no editor is going to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/23 "2009-02-20T03:15:09Z")
I read once (before the internet, so no cite) that if you give an editor one mistake to fix, they’ll make five more changes. Also, especially for a first novel - sending in a mistake filled manuscript gives them and excuse to forget your ms and concentrate on the other fifty they’ve just received. Only had non-fiction published, so far. Working on a trilogy. Still. First novel had a few unconnected scenes which I wrote first and they led to a natural resolution. Second novel followed a very detailed arc that began with one brilliantly clear event. Third novel, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I should be rewriting it now. ---
**Author:** ![kurilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@kurilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurilla)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/24 "2009-02-20T05:02:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I know you mean it as a joke, but there are people who think editors take your raw prose and rewrite it. That’s the writer’s job; if the book requires editing, no editor is going to buy it. Can I crib this and use it as a sig line on the writers’ board I frequent? Pretty please? ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/25 "2009-02-21T17:17:18Z")
Well, I started. I have two pages that need to be cut down to one or filled out to be an entire chapter… I’m not going to worry about it now though. I’ve been on “The night was” for six months, good thing it takes place in the Yukon 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/26 "2009-02-21T20:05:53Z")
> [@](#): > > How do you writw a book? For a good beginning, hire **Boyo Jim** to create the first sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/27 "2009-02-21T22:47:06Z")
> [@](#): > > From then on, I just throw things at the characters and have them deal with them as they try to achieve what they need to achieve because of the first chapter. I pay attention to what I write and how the characters react. To paraphrase Chris Baty, of NaNoWriMo Fame, " Ask yourself, is this a good time to release the ninja’s into the court room scene." ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/28 "2009-02-22T15:16:29Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > For a good beginning, hire **Boyo Jim** to create the first sentence. Only if you want to write one than no one will read. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/29 "2009-02-22T15:56:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Only if you want to write one than no one will read. 😉 Perhaps “memorable beginning” would have been more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/30 "2009-02-22T18:22:38Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > To paraphrase Chris Baty, of NaNoWriMo Fame, " Ask yourself, is this a good time to release the ninja’s into the court room scene." When is it _not_ a good time to release ninja’s? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/31 "2009-02-22T19:05:02Z")
Advice from a quite successful, well-known author here: [http://www.bernardcornwell.net/chapters/writingadvice.htm](http://www.bernardcornwell.net/chapters/writingadvice.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/32 "2009-02-22T19:40:50Z")
> [@Bobotheoptimist](#): > > When is it _not_ a good time to release ninja’s? A ninja in a courtroom is always good. I don’t think I’d want a ninja in a childbirth scene, though. But it has inspired an opening sentence!. “Yuki suddenly realized it was going to be a breach birth, and called in her most skilled ninja.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/33 "2009-02-22T19:42:49Z")
This is beginning to sound like those old John Belushi “Samurai \_\_\_\_\_\_\_” sketches. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/34 "2009-02-22T19:50:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > This is beginning to sound like those old John Belushi “Samurai \_\_\_\_\_\_\_” sketches. Did he ever do a Samurai Surgeon? I don’t recall one, but it would seem a natural. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/35 "2009-02-22T19:57:47Z")
> [@kurilla](#): > > Can I crib this and use it as a sig line on the writers’ board I frequent? Pretty please? Go ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374/36 "2009-02-22T23:08:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I know you mean it as a joke, but there are people who think editors take your raw prose and rewrite it. That’s the writer’s job; if the book requires editing, no editor is going to buy it. Unless you are a celebrity who doesn’t think you need a ghost writer, that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-book/486374.md?page=1)