Don’t get me wrong. I have been writing a novel, and I have been doing it for more than a year. I’m sort of finished with the creative part, and with the actual writing, but it might take me several more months or years to get it published. I really don’t know. Things are happening, and I’m finished with my third draft, and I have received some awesome feedback from a publisher, but I still feel that I have no idea what I’m doing in this industry.

But, it really doesn’t matter how long it takes.

I love to write, and that’s the reason why I am doing it. I’m not doing it because I have had a dream about writing a book, or because I want to become a famous author. It’s all about the words, and because I get inspired to write more, I want to keep writing. And, of course, it’s about the feedback as well. I love to share what I know, and some of the things that are going on inside my head, and I really enjoy that people share their thoughts on what they have just been reading.

And now it’s my turn to share the process of writing, and how I do what I do. And I believe that you can learn a thing or two from it.

How do I get inspired?

A lot of people ask me this question, almost on a daily basis. I know exactly what I do to get inspired, but to be honest with you, inspiration just shows up when I least expects it.

I have made a short video on how I got started writing my novel. And that shows you exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to inspiration. I’ll explain the video, mostly because I’m Norwegian and you might not understand my weird accent.

The process of writing. 3 steps.

In order to write, and keep writing, there are three steps I go through. This is a process and I believe that it probably can be added to any type of job or workflow. And when I started to realize how it all worked out, it was so much easier to keep going and producing whatever I felt like creating.

I’ll explain it in a second, but this is the process:

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• Make a decision
• Find inspiration
• Find motivation

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First. I needed to make a decision.

I decided that I wanted to write a novel. That was it. I didn’t decide on the content of the novel, but I decided that I was going to finish the first draft within a specific date. I believe it was in 8 months. No matter what happened, I was going to finish the first draft in 8 months.

I make decisions like this all the time, no matter if it’s a blog post, writing an ebook or creating a project for a client.

Second. I needed inspiration.

I didn’t have any content. I didn’t force a story. I wanted to discover something I really wanted to write. And I had a lot of different ideas. But, I always do one thing when I need to come up with ideas, and that’s to go for a walk.

I’m always a lot more creative when I’m out walking. But, I’m not going to go for the first ideas that appears. I keep walking. Don’t get me wrong, I take breaks, and I do a lot of other things as well, but I keep walking every single day in order to get the right ideas. The ideas I’m looking for might not appear the first couple of days, and it might not appear during the first week, or the second week, or even the first month. But, I keep walking to find inspiration.

It works.

Take a look at this video. I’ll explain how I discovered the plot for my first novel.

I promised you an explanation to the video, due to my weird accent, and here it comes. I was walking to work one day, and I always walk through the woods. It was fairly dark, and I have to admit that it was a little scary. I’m always completely alone in the woods at 6.30 am, and while I was going to cross a bridge, I looked inside and I thought that I could see something shiny on a tree, about thirty feet from the path. I decided that I wanted to walk closer to see what it was, and as I did, I discovered that somebody had painted a red cross on the tree.

While I was standing next to the tree, looking at the sign, I was asking myself the question, why someone would paint a red cross on a tree? I kept finding some interesting answers, and then, before I managed to cross the bridge, the questions had evolved into a story about a serial killer, killing people and covering their bodies with paint. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The colors of the rainbow.

You can probably say that finding the red cross on the tree was a coincidence, but I had been walking for a very long time, and I have been looking for inspiration wherever I could find it. And it was just a matter of time. If I wouldn’t have discovered the red cross, I would have discovered something else that would have turned questions into a story.

Third. I needed motivation.

I started writing, and I decided that I was going to tell people about what I was doing. I wasn’t going to keep it a secret. And the more people I told, the more people started asking and they became supporters. They told me that they really believed in what I was doing, and that they were going to buy the novel, and they kept discussing the process of writing a novel whenever I talked to them.

Writing is a lonely process. Sometimes I just sit and stare at the computer screen for hours without talking to a single person. I’m not talking about two or three hours, it’s more like seven or eight hours. And without any positive feedback, or any people contacting me and asking me questions about the story, and what it’s like to write a novel, and how on earth can I write about a serial killer, it’s a lot harder to write, a lot harder than it already is.

So, instead of just keeping my mouth shut, I look for people to talk to. I ask them for feedback, and I tell them that I want to talk about writing a novel. And I do my best to smile whenever they give me a compliment. This way they won’t stop giving them to me. I need every compliment, I really do. Writing a novel takes a long time, and it’s a lonely process. But I love every single minute of it, and no matter how long it takes to get it published, I can promise you one thing; this is only the beginning.

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I only write when I’m focused and concentrated, and I only write when I’m comfortable. I used to try to write without any planning, but I can’t get the results I want if I’m not in the writing zone. When I’m in this writing zone, words just come at me with a tremendous speed. I love it. It feels like I can do it all day long. Nothing but write. Just me and my words. And, nothing can distract me, nothing. Not even our cat on the kitchen table. On the other hand, if I feel like I’m forced to write, I can’t seem to find the words anywhere. Not even if they were handed to me on a piece of paper. It’s so hard when that happens. But, because I’m planning, it doesn’t happen anymore.

I am planning to get in the writing zone

I plan my writing. Not only do I plan what I’m going to write, but I plan how I am going to write, and where I’m going to write, and what type of software I’m going to use to write. Sometimes I even use a pen and a paper, but nowadays, I mostly use three types of software. That’s WriteRoom, OmmWriter and iA Writer (my favorite). They all help me stay focused and get in the writing zone, even when my cat has jumped up on the table, is sniffing the food and ready to do some damage. I don’t notice.

There are always four things I do when I write. When I combine them, they keep me very focused and I don’t get distracted. Not by anything, not even the cat.

1. I only write what I want to write

I always keep writing no matter how bad I feel the structure is, and how bad I feel that the sentences are. I always just keep writing. It doesn’t matter. I always write until I have enough content. I never do any editing or adjustments, I write at least five hundred words. When I feel that I have added everything, all the small details, I start the editing process. I never start editing before I’m finished adding the details. That’s important to me. If I started editing before I was finished with the content, I would spend a lot more time, and I wouldn’t get nearly as much done. My blog is about marketing, but that doesn’t keep me from writing about writing, or whatever personal journey I’m going through at the moment. That’s because right now, writing is what I want to be writing about. I always write what I want to write.

2. I never have any goals or deadlines

I have a lot of goals and deadlines, but not when it comes to writing. Some people have a goal of writing 1,000 words a day, other people have goals that they are going to finish writing one or two blog posts, or whatever they are writing. I never have any goals, other than write when I have the time to write, and write when I feel like writing, what I feel like writing, and just write in order to have fun. If I’m not having any fun, I won’t do any writing. I don’t see it as work, or something I need to do every single day (in order to get paid). If I did, it would be hard to have fun doing it. For instance, I didn’t write a single word yesterday.

I see writing as a way to escape. It’s a way to create another type of reality. It’s a way to create something that only I control. When I write I do everything on my own terms, and only when I feel like it. I’m in total control, and I’m loving it.

3. It’s in my head before I start writing

I usually don’t add a lot of notes. I usually don’t plan my posts several days ahead of time. But, I do my best to think about what I’m going to write before I sit down at the kitchen table and start writing. I can start the thinking process an hour before, a few minutes before, or even a few days before. It all depends. I work on the blog post in my head, I think about the different angles, and the different paragraphs. I even think about if I have written similar blog posts that I can link to, like when I wrote about the benefits of blogging while on vacation, yes, I actually thought about this before I started writing this post. I never think about all the details before I start writing, if I did, I wouldn’t be creative, and I wouldn’t have any fun writing. And to me, yes I know I’ve said this before, it’s all about having fun (and hopefully learning a thing or two while having fun).

What I’m actually saying is that writing is about passion. Not so much that I’m staying up late at night, writing thousands of words, like I’m obsessed with a story. Nah, it’s not like that. Not at all. It’s just about feeling good about what I’m doing. I guess that’s it.

4. I need the perfect word processor

I’m one of those guys that just can’t feel good about writing if I’m not using the perfect software. I just can’t use Microsoft Word when it comes to being creative, and do the actual writing. I can use it when it comes to adding details and editing, or adjusting the structure, but that’s it. I just can’t stay focused on writing, if I’m not entirely comfortable with what I’m looking at on the screen. That’s why I have tested, what to me feels like every single writing tool available on the Internet. I have finally ended up with the best three writing tools, and even though I have been switching from one to the other, because I couldn’t decide on which one I wanted to use, until recently. I want to show you exactly why I love iA Writer (Mac only), I think you’re in for a surprise. Take a look at the video below, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

It’s your turn

Do you have any techniques to help you focus on writing when the cat is peeing on the kitchen table? Or do you have to lock yourself inside the office in order to get anything done? I’d love to hear your opinion. Where, when and how do you write? And, do you use Microsoft Word or any other types of software? Let’s discuss in the comments.

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If you’ve been following what I have been doing during the past months, you probably already know that I’m writing a novel. I have been writing for close to six months now, and I’m very excited. The writing process is awesome.

I might be too much involved in marketing, because I’ve been thinking a lot about how to get my novel published lately (probably too much, because the novel is not finished). Not a day goes by without me thinking about how to get people to buy my book, and how to get a publisher and an agent.

By the way, the book I’m writing is about a serial killer, and I’m writing it in Norwegian. I’ll give you more details later on.

What I won’t be doing

I won’t be sending my manuscript to a publisher or an agent as plain text, and sit back and relax and wait for their response. That’s just not me.

I believe that the process is about marketing. And not just about writing an excellent book, that’s just the first step.

What I am going to do

I believe that I’ll be using at least six different methods to get publishers, agents and potential readers.

Video Trailer

I’m going to create a video trailer for the book. Like what Tim Ferriss did:

And I’m going to distribute it all across the Internet.

Book design

I’m going to hire a person I know to create an awesome design for the book. I want it to look close to perfect before I send it to someone. You probably know the famous quote, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. It’s true, on the other hand, I don’t believe it’s not true when it comes to marketing a novel.

Look at all the amazing book covers at The Book Cover Archive.

Website

A book needs a website, maybe even a blog. I believe that it’s more important for a book that’s not quite finished. It’s all about expectations. It’s about giving people hope, that some day they’ll be able to read a remarkable book.

Look at A Long Way Gone, that’s how a website for a book should look like.

Social media

I will create a Facebook Page, and share content from the book and interesting stories about the creative process and tips regarding how I have been writing the book. I will also be using Twitter to communicate with potential readers.

Paid advertising

I will start a marketing campaign that will include paid advertising. It will include Google AdWords and Facebook Ads, but it might also include banner advertising on blogs and discussion forums.

Press release

I will write several press releases, and distribute them to newspapers all across the country. I might even send them to various magazines.

But first…

I’m going to finish the writing process. I’ll only be using all the methods above if I’m proud of what I have accomplished. I have seen people who have started the marketing many months before the book is finished, but I don’t think I am going to (because this is my first book).

What would you do?

Are you an author? If you are, or not, it doesn’t really matter, but what would you do if you had just finished writing a book and you want it to be published?

I appreciate any tips.

Image: Flickr

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