I’ve actually done it! After weeks of thinking about it then days of trying to sort out the technical side of things, I’ve started writing my Kindle book and it feels GREAT! The funny thing is, I got stuck trying to write it the “proper” way, the traditional way of starting at the beginning. What worked for me was putting all of the chapter titles down and then flitting between them, writing whatever came into my mind at that moment. O.K., this probably won’t work if you’re writing a novel (though that is the way films are made so maybe I should try it when I get around to doing my novel) but it does work if you’re writing a self-help book. When I tried doing it from the beginning, my writing was stilted and it wasn’t working. It was laborious, a chore and it sounded false. Writing bits and pieces, flitting from one thing to another, made my writing flow with one idea sparking another and it was FUN. 🙂 If I can manage to be disciplined enough to do this for half an hour every day, I will actually get it finished and instead of having one book completed by the end of the year, I might well have several.
Now that WOULD be an achievement!
Picture credit: clker.com
Lynne's Art and Soul 
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Pardon me for asking, but won’t this process need heavy editing and corrections to ensure the flow of the book?
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I don’t think the type of book I’m writing will need heavy editing and corrections because each chapter is a different category. It would need them if you tried to use it for a novel. I will read through my book several times and change bits I expect but I would do that anyway. I don’t think this process will make any difference to that but we’ll see. My process may not work for everyone but it seems to work for me (surprisingly, as I’m not a spontaneous sort of person and I like sticking to rules and doing things in the right order). I always have to read the instructions for new gadgets. 😀
Btw, I like David Tennant and Matt Smith as Doctor Who. 🙂
Thank you for commenting.
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Yes, that makes sense, and if the chapters are different maybe random order of writing can trigger a different line of thought which may lead to progress. I think Isaac Asimov wrote a novel in which he had purposely changed the order of chapters and went on to explain that he had his own subtle reasoning of doing so. I guess all of us need to be bold enough to experiment and you are ahead of the curve.
Best of Luck with your book.
P.S.- I like Tennant and Eccleston 😛 . It’s always nice to interact with a fellow whovian, and it is a rare pleasure indeed 😛
Thanks
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I didn’t know that about Isaac Asimov, that’s very interesting. It was kind of a happy accident for me. Thank you, I think I’ll need that luck. 🙂
I liked Christopher Eccleston before he became Doctor Who and I was pleased when he first took on the part. I don’t think it worked having a Doctor with a Northern accent though, that spoilt it for me. I also think the levitating daleks don’t work either, they just look silly. They were much more menacing when they couldn’t get upstairs lol. I love the weeping angels, they’re so creepy!
Have you seen any of the Doctors from years ago (the ones before Christopher Eccleston)?
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i have been trying to get my hand on the classic series but it is hard to find. ideally i would like to start from hartnell’s era but with some episodes missing and it being in black and white i may have to start from Pertwee or Baker if i can get my hands on them.
and stuff like this makes me go all fanboy-
Sylvester McCoy ftw
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Fanboy, lol. Thanks for the video. Pertwee and Baker were good. I remember both of them. Tom Baker is my sister’s favourite Doctor Who. When I was very young, I liked Patrick Troughton best but I can barely remember him now. I know he was odd and played the recorder but that’s about it! Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy are Doctors that I didn’t watch much, I’m not sure why. I was married at the time so my ex was probably in control of the TV remote. 😦
Good luck tracking down old episodes. 🙂
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The way of writing is interesting and it sounds yet quite logical since you are able to catch every single idea because you can write it down whenever it strikes you
What kind of self-help book is it?
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Yes, I think it makes more sense to write ideas down as they occur to you rather than following a planned order. I think this process will work really well. What I am having trouble with is being disciplined enough to write for half an hour every day. 😀
I’m writing a book of tips to help cope with depression but not the usual boring type of self-help book that just tells you what you should be doing. You get overwhelmed when you have depression so you can’t just follow the advice that is given as it all feels too much to handle. If I can get everything formatted properly for Kindle my book should contain some new fractals and poems as well as tips so it will be completely unique.
Good luck with your A levels Maria. Which subjects are you studying?
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Congrats! I want to write a book too. Good idea to schedule time and go for it!!
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Thank you Lisa. What do you want to write your book about? It is a good idea to schedule time but it’s not working so far, lol.
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Possibly about mental health too from personal experience and another book idea is to have my photography integrated into a book.
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I think it is best to write from personal experience rather than as a healthcare practitioner who has just studied the illness, whatever that illness may be. Nobody can understand it unless they’ve lived it.
Putting your photography into a book sounds like a great idea too. Good luck with both of them. 🙂
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Thanks! Best wishes to you too. I’m sure you will get the book together. I like your idea of adding fractals in it! Books with art inside always interest me 😉
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Thanks. I’ve spent hours working on it today. Gradually getting there! I’ve written a few chapters, done the clickable table of contents and added a photo. Just inserted a new fractal in it. It’s getting very exciting now. 🙂
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Congrats! I noticed you are using Kindle with Amazon to create it. Did you have to download any certain software?
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From the research I’ve done, you can just type it in Word and upload it but you have to do it without any formatting and photos have to be put in using the “insert” button rather than copying and pasting. You can change the style of the chapter headings but the main text should be plain. I’ve found out how to do a clickable Table of Contents too. Photos should use JPEG format with a quality factor of 40 or higher (I’ve used 100). They should be at least 600 x 800 pixels but I’ve done mine a lot bigger as Kindle resizes automatically. The resolution of all images should be 300 dpi though I’ve read that photographs should use the highest resolution available within the file size limit (I don’t know what that would be, I’ve used 300 dpi). Maximum size of an individual image is 5 MB and the maximum size of an epub is 650 MB. The cover has to be done separately and should be 2560 x 1600 pixels with a resolution of 350 dpi (though I’ve also read about other sizes so I’m not 100% sure). It gives you a bit of guidance anyway if you want to do one.
You can download a Kindle previewer from Amazon so you can view how your book will look on different platforms but it doesn’t seem to work for iPad and iPhone. It says you have to copy and paste into them but I don’t have one so I can’t!
I need to look at Create Space as well but I haven’t had a chance yet. I’ve also read that I should use Lightning Source for U.K. distribution. It’s all rather convoluted or maybe I’m just making it more difficult than it really is!
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Great info! Thanks so much 🙂 when I’m ready to get my book together this is so helpful. Nice that photos are resized! Need to write some of this down 😉
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I hadn’t realised my previous answer had gone all long and skinny, lol.
You’re welcome. Glad I could help. 🙂
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I’ll have to give it a try!
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🙂 I’m not sure if it will work for a novel Jo. It might do if you know exactly what your plot is before you start. I do think it makes sense to do what inspires you in the moment though as you get ideas come to you spontaneously and you feel more enthusiastic which shows in your writing.
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I am glad that you have found a way that suits your writing. It really doesn’t matter how you do it, just that you do it! It gets better and better. Thanks for your follow!! 🙂
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Yes, I think my writing is much better than when I first started my blog and it has been fun exploring new ways of expressing myself, such as haiku. Thanks for your follow too. 🙂
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