How to Finally Write Some Best Selling Fiction Books

Many of us wish we could write best selling fiction books. The truth is, most of us have amazing stories to tell. The problem lies in not knowing where to begin. Often, aspiring writers tend to over think their story before they've even started, and in the end they are left unhappy with any result they have. To avoid this problem, as well as other problems, consider these tips:

Start With Your Own Life
If you're not sure what to write about, just write about your own life, making it fictional. Fact has always been stranger than fiction, and you'll be surprised what writing about your life can show you and inspire you in terms of writing a story. There are many things about your life you can touch on, as you write, you can choose to expound on a specific element, later making that the theme of your book.

Add the Stories of Others
Though each human life is interesting, you may feel that yours needs some extra spice. Add some other interesting stories you know of that happened to people you know and are connected to your life. In the book, you can make it so that it happened to different characters. Adding these extra events will help shape your story's characters because you can begin to make composites of several people. Just make sure not to add too much, or else people may find the story too out of this world.

Touch on Sensitive Topics
Every person encounters hardship. Be sure to touch on this as well as other sensitive topics. These will always spark controversy or interest, and it will add a special dynamic to your story as well as the characters. Just be ready to face criticism as well as some possible hate mail, depending on what your stance on the particular topic is.

Write Without Criticism
One of the biggest secrets to getting your book done is "write now criticize later". If you get flashes o inspiration, don't ignore them, just write away (even if it shouldn't be on that page in the story.) you can always edit in the end, but your inspiration may come and go, so take advantage of it as much as you can. Write and write and don't even bother with grammar and spelling. Just get the story out there first.

At the end of the day, if you pour your heart and passion int your book, you can't go wrong. People are fascinated by other people. It's one of the reasons why literature is so well loved. You can win people over by just writing a story about genuine people from whatever perspective is most real to you. Do that and you're sure to have some best selling fiction books at the end of the day.

Why A Writer Writes

I had an experience recently that answered the question for me: why do writers write? I was sitting in my office working on my next book.

Writers' doubts.

As I worked, I was thinking the thoughts all writers must think when starting a new project: What am I doing? Why am I writing this book? Will I ever finish it? Will it ever amount to anything? Will anyone ever want to read it? Will it make a difference in the world?

A call from a reader.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hello, I'm George Mabon," the caller said. "I'm an estates lawyer."

I said, "Yes sir, what can I do for you today?"

"Well, you've already done it," he said. "I just called to say thank you for your article on how to estimate costs in business litigation."

My mind raced back through all of the articles I had ever written on many subjects: intuition, manifestation, healing, and earlier articles in my chosen profession, law. What article, I thought.

"Could you please remind me a little bit about the article, Mr. Mabon?" I said.

"Yes, it's the one where you talk about all of the different types of attorney and client time and expense that have to go into the litigation process and how whether to take any of those steps has to be balanced against their cost and the amount in controversy in the dispute."

My mind keeps racing back until it comes to the shocking realization that the article he's talking about was published in a local bar association magazine 30 years ago.

"If I recall, Mr. Mabon, that article was written quite some time ago," I said.

"Yes, but I've been using it a couple of times a month ever since it came out. You see, I mostly write wills and trusts, but people often ask me about disputes and courts. And I use your article to tell them what they can expect by way of costs. The article is quite accurate and my clients experience usually comes out just like the article predicts. And I was doing that again today, and I realized that I had never said thanks for all the help that that article has allowed me to give my clients over the years. So, I wanted to call and do that."

"Wow, thank YOU, Mr. Mabon," I said, "you've made my day!"

"You're welcome," he said.

We talk for a while, and, after exchanging a few more pleasantries, we ring off.

Encouragement today from an old article.

And I get to think about it. That article was on of the first ones I had ever written, and it was done 30 years ago. I remember wondering at the time whether anyone would publish it, whether anyone would read it, and whether it would make any difference, or whether it would get lost in the blizzard of information everyone's exposed to.

And now, whilst thinking similar thoughts about the book I'm currently working on, I get a call out of the blue from someone who read the old article when it was published and who has often used it during the past 30 years to make a difference in his world.

The gifts of intuition and the means to carry it out.

And I think: that's why writers write: something inside prompts them to share an experience that's meant to be shared in a way that will make some difference in the world. And that intuition carries with it the energy to overcome all of the drawbacks, rejections, and difficulties to putting that experience into print and out to the world.

I'm thankful to Mr. Mabon for calling to thank me, and I'm thankful to the universe for Mr. Mabon's call at a key moment to remind me that writers are given special gifts. Writers are first given the ability to communicate insight through the written word to others. Writers are then given the gift of life experience. They are sometimes given the gift of insight into that experience. And when an intuition with an insight into experience comes, writers are given the gift of the creative energy to make their writing exist in a tangible form accessible to the world.

Why writers write.

Why do writers write? They write because they have been given something special. They write because they are compelled to. They write because they are fulfilling their destiny to use the gifts they have been given to make a difference in the world.

And that's why writers write.

Writing Inspiration: Let Rocky Be Your Writers Guide

New writers fail to understand one thing. Writing is hard. It is not an easy option. It is not something that you do when all else fails. It does not matter if you swim in writing inspiration - that you are full with ideas for novels, scripts and articles. Writing inspiration must be tied to writing discipline. In other words, you must have the desire to write as well as the ability to write but above all else you must have the discipline to write, consistently, day after day, year after year.

To be a successful writer you need to be in control, to be able to dictate how, when and where you are going to write. Self discipline is the most powerful weapon in your writing arsenal. Without it, all other skills that you might possess are useless.

You might have the most perfect language skills, write prose like Shakespeare, be able to network and make connections, you might even have the ability to write 65 words a minute but unless you have the discipline to apply these skills, you are doomed to failure.

A writer must be more like Rocky, if he wishes to succeed.

This might seem like strange advice but take it from me, if you become more like Rocky, you will have a greater chance of success than any prodigious talent. Watch Rocky 1, 2 and 6 and you will see what I mean. Think about it for a moment, think about what Rocky is really about, the underdog, the no hoper, the talentless nobody who goes on to challenge the boxing champion of the world. The Philadelphia bum, who aspires only to go the distance with Apollo Creed, transforms into a boxing legend and becomes an inspiration to us all.

Ah, I hear you say, but that's only a story, a film script, that can't happen in real life. It can and it does happen in real life. Everyday talented and not so talented individuals get their chance, sometimes they succeed; more often they don't.

Why do so many writers fail?

To be successful is to be driven, to be prepared for sacrifice and all too few of us are prepared to give anything up. The road becomes too hard to travel and so we give up, we don't fight for what we believe, for what we desire. The result is failure to achieve our objectives.

So I will repeat this again. To succeed you need to be more like Rocky. You must be determined, disciplined, prepared to make sacrifices and above all you must be prepared to take the pain. For Rocky the pain was physical, for a writer pain manifests itself internally as fear, despondency and lack of confidence. You're job is to conquer all of them, to rise above the challenge and push through the barrier that prevents you from achieving your writing goals.

Be more like Rocky and you will find your writing inspiration flow free and fast. If it helps there is one line from the last film that always plays in my head; "It doesn't matter how hard you hit, it's how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward".

The question now is how hard can you get hit, how often can you pick yourself up off the ground and keep moving forward?

Write What You Are Passionate About !

People are drawn to writing for a variety of reasons and find success in a myriad of ways if they have solid ability to write. Some writers will be successful as fiction writers and turn out bestsellers or be satisfied as a mid-list writer with their name in print. Other writers will become masters at non-fiction or will write for academic and scientific journals. Still others will work for corporations or the government and will be the "go-to" person for reports, letters and documents that are cogent and well put together. A facility with the written word is a valuable commodity in the information society we live in today, and there are many opportunities for a writer to find success.

While it is true that any of the writing forms noted above can bring a writer a modicum of success and feelings of accomplishment, a writer will find their greatest success in writing in an area or subject they are passionate about. A writer's skills will allow him or her to turn out solid, well put together prose on almost any subject if they put in some research and organization time, but finding a subject that you care about can take your work to the next level. This is true for creative writers that find the story they "need" to tell, or finally hit upon the character who is as real to them as their best friend from high school. But, it is also true for the non-fiction or corporate writer who has a subject they care deeply about or a project that they believe in.

Over a writer's career they will likely be called on to write many things that they have little passion for. Still, a professional sits down and turns the work out and will be successful. Yet when that same writer finds a project they have passion for they can make a quantum leap forward as a writer. Even if you are engaged in multiple writing projects to pay the rent or that just need to get done, continue to look around for a project that sets you on fire. Maybe you won't be able to get to it until this year's corporate report is done or you get that graduate history paper turned in, but make note of your idea and file a few notes away. Once you find a subject that you are passionate about, take the time to expand it and see where it takes you.

Simple Words for a Succinct Book

To be a writer is to challenge youself. When I reach the mid-point of a book I let out a huge sigh because I know I'll make it to the end. But I've had times when I thought I would never get to the end of a chapter, let alone the book. You may have had similar writing experiences.

Writing "short," choosing simple words and creating simple sentences with them, takes more time than writing "long."

Ernest Hemingway was a master of brevity. I was in high school when his famous book, "The Old Man and the Sea," was released. If I recall, the entire book was published in "Life" magazine. Though I was a young, immature student, I appreciated his story line and sentence structure. Of his own writing Hemingway said he looked at words as if he was seeing them for the first time.

"My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way," he noted. I'm no Hemingway, yet I can strive for simplicity.

Jack Dorsey shares his thoughts about simple words in an Art Institute of Pittsburgh article, "The Art of Writing for Brevity." The purpose of writing is to communicate a specific message, according to Dorsey. As he says, "It is harder to be brief with this message than it is to write a lengthy piece." Dorsey's tips for achieving brevity: trim the fat, choose words carefully, cut words, use the active voice, write first and edit later.

My recent writing focuses on grief, a niche that came about after losing four family members, including my daughter, in 2007. While this can be a painful niche, I find comfort in the fact that I'm creting resources to help others. One day, when I was writing an article, an idea for an affirmations book popped into my head.

The idea was so strong that I abandoned the article and started writing affirmations. Once I started I couldn't stop, and wrote affirmations for days. Sentences came to me at odd times, so I kept a pad and pencil handy. Later, I entered these words into the computer. I printed the book out, put it away for several weeks, and made the necessary revisions.

Since mourners have trouble remembering what they have read, I wrote one-sentence affirmations only -- words the reader could remember during the day. Writing an affirmations book isn't a new idea, but I added a new twist. Each affirming sentence is followed by a focus word or words. These words can be used for self-examination, support group discussions, meditation, or prayer.

When I had written scores of affirmations to help mourners, I stopped writing them. I added a short preface, affirmation-writing steps, and a list of grief support groups. Only someone who has experienced multiple losses, someone like me, could write this book. Though it is short, only 60 pages, it is filled with comforting and hopeful words.

Are you stuck on a writing project? Writing "short" may be the answer. Simple words have much to say and can even change a life.