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1. What am I really trying to do?
2. How am I going to do it?
3. How do I find a publisher?
4. How do I sell it?
5. How do I structure a piece of writing?
6. How do I write it?

How do I structure a piece of writing?

Planning is everything.

You need to know where you are going to with the book, and from where it started. Why it is being written, and for what audience are just as important as the main plot or theme. Underlying currents you feel might add flavour are nice to have, but should always be subsidiary.

If it takes place over time, then draw out a time line with key events clearly marked. If travel is involved, allow time for the journey! Timing is a useful plot device.

If you have characters, then they should be clearly defined before they draw breath in the book, and their growth and maturation should also be carefully mapped out. See Creating Characters by Marisa D’Vari.

Relationships should be planned even more carefully, long before a single word of the text is written. To many readers the relationships are everything, and the plot is merely a convenient hook to hang the characters on.

It can also be very useful, but not essential to map out the details of the world the characters live in, it might be their raison d’etre, and could flesh them out for free.

So having gathered these raw materials, one needs to lay the foundations for the book, before the characters march in and steal the plot for themselves. Having been an engineer working on project management and the development of both hardware and software, I found the principles of structured analysis a godsend. There are two books that stand head and shoulders above the rest, Modern Structured Analysis by Ed Yourdan, and Structured Analysis and System Specification by Tom DeMarco . These are expensive and heavyweight, but worth it, and still relevant.

Then the book can be planned in layers, for example:

• First layer is the top level, eg Chapter Headings.
• Next layer is the event level eg Sections in a Chapter.
• Next layer is who does what in each Section.
• Next layer shows which themes are used, and where.
• Next layer cross-checks timelines against events.
• And so on, depending on how deep the book is.

If you can manage to do this for the whole book, and you have the resources neatly laid out for easy access, then the first draft almost writes itself, and the main problem you will find is reining in the characters to be true to their essentials and not to stray from the plot.

If any one section proves difficult, move on to another. It’s amazing how leaving an awkward part for a few hours or days allows the subconscious to come up with the right answers. Writer’s block is unheard of with this level of organisation. The main problem is in remembering to go to bed on time; and some form of automatic timed alarm reminder can be very useful.

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