TL;DR
Starting is a set of small decisions: one project, one sentence about it, one schedule, one place to keep your pages. Spend the first week on the idea, the second on a loose map, and the last two drafting a few thousand words that you are allowed to throw away.
To start writing a book, choose one project, describe it in a few plain sentences, set a writing schedule you can repeat in a bad week, and begin the first draft before the idea feels finished. Most people who want to write a book do not fail at chapter twenty. They fail in the first month, when the idea is vague, the schedule is a wish and the first pages are being judged as if they were final. The first 30 days exist to get past that point.
If you are further along, jump to the week that matches you. The whole path from idea to revised manuscript is in how to write a book.
Before day one: choose one book
Most writers who sit down to start have two or three projects competing in their head. Allison K. Williams, writing on Jane Friedman's site, suggests a simple test: imagine you are about to walk through a magic door and can take only one manuscript with you. Which one? Then say a gentle "I'll be back" to the others. Switching between worlds in the first month costs more than it seems, because you never build enough momentum in any of them.
Choosing is a rule for the next 30 days, not a lifelong commitment. The other ideas go into one note titled "Later".
Week 1: shape the idea
The goal this week is a page you can read in one minute and still feel curious about. Do not research the world, name every character or design a magic system. Answer five questions in plain sentences:
- Who is the story about? One person, described by what they want, not by their hair colour.
- What do they want right now? Something concrete enough to fail at.
- What stands in the way? A person, a place, a rule or a flaw in themselves.
- What happens if they fail? The cost has to matter to them.
- How might it end? A guess is fine. Writing a guess down gives the story a direction.
Here is an example for an imaginary novel. Ilse, a river-ferry pilot, wants to deliver a sealed letter before the spring floods close the crossing. The letter's addressee is the man her brother disappeared with. If she fails, the river takes the road and her last lead. She may find her brother alive, and she may find he left on purpose. Four sentences, and already you can see scenes.
Read it aloud on the last day of the week. If you want to keep reading, you have a book to start. If not, change the want or the obstacle.
Week 2: draw a loose map
A map is not an outline of every chapter. It is enough structure that you know where the next few scenes go. Pick one of the options below and spend no more than a few sessions on it.
| Option | What you write | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Five turning points | The opening, the event that starts the plot, the middle reversal, the lowest moment, the ending | You like a clear shape without heavy planning |
| A template | A ready-made structure, edited to fit your story | You want to see an act structure before choosing your own |
| Scene list for the first act | Ten to fifteen scenes, one line each | You want to start drafting quickly |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
If you want a ready shape, Musael's three-act template opens as acts, chapters and scenes, and the seven-point template as seven chapters, each with a note about what usually happens there. Story structure compares the main models, and how to outline a novel walks through turning points into scenes.
Expect to change whatever you choose. Julie Artz, on Jane Friedman's site, describes her long-form synopsis as a brainstorming document that is meant to be messy, one she revisits during planning, drafting and revising. A map that changes is doing its job.
Week 3: set your schedule and your place
Famous advice about daily word counts is easy to find. Allison K. Williams quotes Stephen King ("I like to get ten pages a day") and Ray Bradbury ("Just write every day of your life"), then writes that it doesn't matter which method works best for you. She writes in bursts, with personal retreats of three to ten days about twice a year. She also mentions Andre Dubus III, who wrote House of Sand and Fog 17 minutes at a time, sitting in his car after leaving for work 17 minutes early. Daily, weekly or in bursts, the schedule only needs to be one you will keep.
Choose yours with three questions:
- When? Name the days and the hours, and put them on a calendar as if you had paid for a class.
- How long? A session you can finish when tired, such as 30 minutes or 300 words.
- Where? One place for your pages, so you never wonder which file is the latest.
Add a person. Williams has a writing buddy who waits for her pages and is not obliged to give feedback; knowing someone is waiting, she says, makes her push a little farther.
For the place, a single project beats a folder of loose files. In Musael, the manuscript editor saves on your device first and syncs when you are online, so a train with no signal does not stop a session, and a Focus mode hides everything but the page. Whatever tool you use, set it up in week three, not in the middle of a chapter.
Weeks 3 and 4: draft without judging
Now write. A reasonable target for the last two weeks is a few thousand words, or the first three to five scenes. The rules are short:
- Start in the middle of the action. You can write the quiet opening later.
- Do not reread yesterday's pages. Read the last paragraph to find your footing and continue.
- Park problems in a list. If you do not know a character's age, write "Ilse's brother: age?" in your notes and keep going.
- Mark gaps in the draft itself. A placeholder like [NAME OF TOWN] is easy to search for later.
- Stop mid-scene when you can. Resuming from half a sentence is easier than facing a blank page.
If a scene dies, skip to the next one that interests you. In Musael the plan board and the manuscript share one structure, so moving a scene on the board moves it in the draft.
What to keep track of
Two lists are worth starting now, because they grow with every scene:
- Facts you have established: names, ages, dates, who knows what.
- Questions for later: things you need to research, decide or fix.
The first is the seed of a story bible. How to build a story bible shows a small version, and the story bible template gives you fields to copy. Musael keeps these in its world and characters codex, where names in the manuscript link back to their entry.
Day 30: look at what you have
On the last day, do not judge the quality of the prose. Count what exists: words or scenes written, sessions kept, questions listed. Then answer three questions in a few lines:
- Did I want to come back to the pages most days?
- Did the schedule fit my life, or should I change one number?
- What is the next scene I would write, if I only wrote one?
If the schedule failed, shorten the session before you abandon the plan. If the story failed, go back to week one and sharpen the want and the obstacle. If both held, you are now someone who is writing a book, and the rest is repetition.
Common ways the first month goes wrong
- Perfecting chapter one. The opening is the part you will understand best after you have finished the book. Write a rough one and move on.
- Planning forever. If week two is turning into week five, start drafting with the loose map you have.
- Comparing your page to a published page. Published pages have been through revisions you have not done yet.
Frequently asked questions
How do I start writing a book if I have only an idea?
Write the idea as four or five sentences: who it is about, what they want, what stands in the way and what happens if they fail. If you still want to read the page after a day, begin drafting the first scene that comes to mind. The rest of the structure can be found while you write.
How many words should I write a day when I am starting?
There is no required number. Stephen King's ten pages a day is a famous example, but Allison K. Williams on Jane Friedman's site writes that it doesn't matter which method works best for you. Start with a session you can finish when tired, then raise it only if it feels easy.
Should I outline before I start writing?
A loose map is enough to begin. A paragraph and a few turning points will keep you from stalling in the first act. If detailed outlines drain your interest, draft first and outline from what you wrote.
Where do I write my book?
Choose one place that saves automatically and works on a bad connection, so the book is never split across files. A word processor works. A writing workspace such as Musael adds a plan board and a codex around the manuscript, and keeps working offline.
What if I start and then lose motivation?
Check whether the problem is the story, the schedule or tiredness. A story problem is usually a missing want or obstacle. A schedule problem is fixed by a shorter session. Tiredness is fixed by a day off that you plan, not one that happens to you.
Where Musael fits
The writer who finishes a book is usually the one who kept everything in one place. In Musael a project holds your manuscript, a plan board and a codex of characters and places, and the AI editor on the Ink and Press plans reads your pages and leaves the writing to you. In week one you can start from a template instead of a blank page.
Sources
- Allison K. Williams, "Don't Write Every Day: 3 Things to Do Instead to Finish Your Book", Jane Friedman: janefriedman.com
- Julie Artz, "How to Use a Long-Form Synopsis to Plan Your Novel", Jane Friedman: janefriedman.com
