THE BERNIE BOOK

⇢ Book Planning

BOOK PLANNING

Most of the questions I receive on a daily basis consist of two things: 'how do I plan a book?' and 'what are some writing tips?'. I will cover the second in the following chapter,  but I'll cover the first here. Let's get started!

Disclaimer: This is about planning a fanfic, so market-publishing is not covered here! However, if you do have questions about getting your novel published, I can also answer those separately! This is also my book process, so it might not be the right fit/order for you! I hope it helps :) 

STEP ONE: BOOK PLOT

Coming up with a book plot is probably one of the hardest things a writer can do, unless they've been hit by a bucket-load of inspiration (which can happen!). When you want a book plot that can make your book seem interesting, try to steer away from common 'fanfic' tropes, because it can be very damaging to both the readers and your ability to produce quality content!

For example: 

A lot of Wattpad [x-readers] use the trope "Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, skinny" when describing the main character. This is an actual description of a person, and that's fine! However, if you choose to write a book where the reader can insert themselves into it, you need to be conscious of how you write. Not everyone is blonde, not everyone has blue eyes, not everyone is white, and not everyone is skinny! Writing an [x-reader] means you should try not to describe the main character with specific terms, because it can leave a lot of readers feeling unrepresented or hurt by what they read. 

If you do, however, want to feature traits of your own character, you should label your book as an [x-reader with OC traits], or just create an OC (original character).

Following, a book plot should also be original and interesting! 

STEP TWO: BOOK TITLE

How do you make a good title?

This is my favorite part of the book-process, because it defines the book at first glance. You might have heard the phrase 'don't judge a book by it's cover', but the truth is, the title of a book is the first thing we all read when we click on it! You need to make a great first impression, and I'll show you how to do that now:

 - SYLLABLES:

Now that you have your book plot, you can make a title that connects to your book (EX. CHEEKY was titled CHEEKY, because the main character would call Louis by that name often). Try to make it short, concise, and interesting! Having a one-word title is recommended, but it doesn't have to be mandatory. Keep these in mind when you come up with a title:

Easy to pronounce.

Relates to Book Plot.

Original and not commonly used (so readers can differentiate between your and other books on the site).

If you need help finding words, searching synonyms, rhymes, or 'beautiful words' in Google is a helpful tool! I use it a lot, actually.

STEP THREE: BOOK OUTLINE

Because I love to update everyday (which, as a reminder, is not required), I usually plan my entire book out before I start it. This makes it much easier to write, and you finish your books much faster! Try to come up with the beginning chapter, the ending chapter, and any plot-twists/important scenes in between. Once you start there, you can start adding fillers in-between!

Writing chapter summaries are also very helpful, because you can just copy and paste into your Google Docs, Word, etc...

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any questions?