Getting Started

Many folks ask me how to write an ebook. They have an idea for something, but they just can't seem to get started. Sometimes the idea is based upon life experience or subject matter expertise, and other times it's simply an idea for a story. I have used many ways to brainstorm over the years, and my favorite is free writing. 

I learned this technique while studying creative writing in college, and it is practiced in most universities. Essentially you just start putting pen to paper and write stream of consciousness thoughts. There's no editing -- no stopping -- no rereading -- just writing. It's largely a mechanical exercise that yields lots of rambling thoughts with no particular pattern; HOWEVER, eventually you can find yourself taking off on a subject or developing a turn of a phrase that is meaningful to you. This exercise is akin to revving up a car engine before taking off on a drive.

If this does not work you, then I also recommend NOT WRITING! What? Not writing? That's right -- don't write! SPEAK. Take a tape recorder and start "free speaking" and just ramble on any topic(s) you like. Like free writing, eventually you will hit something that interests you. Then you merely transcribe the portions of the tape that have some meat on them -- and you have the start of a manuscript.

There are many ebooks/courses available to help you over the hump -- to get past writers block -- and here's a few recommendations I have found useful:

How To Write A Book On Anything in 14 Days or Less

Write and Publish Your Own Book In As Little As 7 Days

eBook Author Interviews

Writing Classes

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Steven Schneiderman received his B.A./M.A. In Creative Writing, and taught English at Queens College, The City University of New York in the early 1980's. His previous poetry and non-fiction have appeared in numerous small presses across the country and in American Voices published by Harper & Row, and has won multiple university awards including Versatility in Creative Writing and the Most Promising Poet of the Year (1980 and 1981 respectively) from the City University of New York. Steven currently resides in Tulsa, OK with his wife and two children. He is the creator and founder of EbookoMatic: The Instant Online Ebook Publisher.