Want to write a book that people will really enjoy (and buy)? Well, this is pretty much the cardinal rule: you should always be thinking about your audience and trying to write “reader-first.”

From there, your job is to maintain the reader's interest by heightening the stakes and inciting the plot. You should also make the reader care about the main characters by giving them distinct personalities and motivations. (Note that “main” is a key descriptor here; never introduce more than a couple of characters at a time!) These goals are based on a pattern of 3-4 sessions per week, which is reasonable for a beginner, but still enough to make commendable progress. Even if you only follow our minimum recommendations — 500 words per session at 3 sessions per week — you can still easily finish your book in less than a year! Speeding up the writing process Well, if you’ve taken our advice about catering to your target readers, you may as well give publishing a shot! We have a full guide to publishing right here — and if you’re thinking about traditional publishing, read this article to decide which is right for you. Get help from publishing professionals Let's move on to practical ways that you can improve your writing habits. Word count goals play a huge part in creating an effective writing process, especially if you're trying to finish your book in a certain amount of time.The words, personalised sections and the gorgeous illustrations are clearly shown in our product photos, so please have a good look! You may already know what you want to write about, or you may be at a total loss. Either way, you can settle on a “big book idea” by asking yourself a few simple questions: Bashful Fox Cub is proudly wearing his jumper beautifully embroidered with the name of his favourite little person, ready to snuggle down and sleep. With his soft ginger coat, this cute fox cub with fluffy white ears, feet and tail-tip is an ideal first soft toy which is sure to become a treasured favourite! Made by Jelly Cat and suitable from birth, he is approximately 31cm high. Publishing is another rigorous process, of course. But if you’ve come this far to find out how to write a book, you can pretty much do anything! Invest in stellar cover design, study up on marketing, or start writing an irresistible query letter that will get you an offer.

Ultimately, you just want a well-balanced writing routine that facilitates productivity, yet keeps you from burning out. If you find that writing for several days in a row is too much for you, space out your sessions more or try to shake things up by moving to a new writing space. If you can't keep up with your goals, it's okay to reduce them a little. Now You're The Biggest'. A stunning personalised book to celebrate the special role of an older sibling through a gentle, beautifully illustrated story. Then read those books' blurbs to figure out what really sells. What do they all have in common, and why might readers find them appealing? Does your book hold up to these standards? Make bedtime really special with cuddly little Bashful Fox Cub, who brings his favourite book to share for some bedtime fun.Based on ours and other writers' experience, here are a few motivational strategies for you to try: possible. If you need confirmation of delivery times or have any other concerns please call us. Babyblooms reserves the right to use alternative delivery service providers and couriers that meet our delivery guarantees. If you need delivery on a specific day please call us. In remote areas of the UK delivery times may vary and next day service may not be If this is your first book, make sure you take your time, set manageable word goals, and gradually build to bigger goals. Use writing sessions to establish a schedule You should create word count goals for both your individual sessions and per week — or per month, if that's how you prefer to think about your writing output. For relatively novice writers, we'd recommend the following word count goals:

We're here to dissuade you of that notion. While style is great (as long as your prose doesn't start to become purple), substance is far more important when writing a book — hence why you should focus primarily on your plot, characters, conflict(s), and themes. Make sure your book is all killer, no filler Write the first draft Like layers of an iceberg, these elements build on each other, even if you can't always see them. Getting into the groove of writing a book can be difficult. When there are a million different things to distract and discourage you, how can you keep going with your writing routine and finish your book? Sadly, we can only include one child in this book at the moment, we hope to change this in the future. If you want to include more children may we suggest you have a look at the ‘Dear Daddy’ book in our store.Yes, writing a lot is important, but it's not more important than your mental health! Remember that writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint, and that a consistent, healthy approach is absolutely vital. Here are some tips for making the most of your writing routine. Don't skip more than one session in a row Having a healthy writing routine is the only way you'll actually hit those word count goals — not to mention it fosters a better relationship with writing overall! To establish a healthy routine, ask yourself these baseline questions first:

Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. This advice comes straight from Kurt Vonnegut, and it's 100% true: if a sentence doesn't accomplish one or both of those things, try removing it. If the passage still makes sense, leave it out. While writing about tiny books a few months ago, I discovered that people can be pretty possessive about superlatives, even when it’s a race to create something so small that it can’t be seen by the naked eye. As a result, it didn’t overly surprise me to find out that people are just as extravagant and competitive about the world’s biggest books. Once you've found your big idea, the next step is to research your genre. Again, if you're writing the book you like to read, you already have a leg up! Reading books in your genre is by far the best way to learn how to write in that genre yourself. Or if you're not much for outlines because your thoughts are all over the place, Milanote can help. The super-flexible interface allows you to “mind map” just as you would longhand, and rearrange different sections as you please. When writing, you can see all your notes at once, so you don't have to stress about forgetting things. It's a very refreshing, intuitive way approach that's worth a try for all disorganized authors. FocusWriter ✍️ So how do you go about creating that outline for your book? We actually have a whole other post on the subject, but here are the essentials:If all the Saturdays of 1982 can be thought of as one day, I met Tracey at 10 a.m. on that Saturday, walking through the sandy gravel of a churchyard, each holding our mother's hand.” — Swing Time