BOOK WRITING - The second step

          Gathering your information

I said earlier in one of my posts that the first step in writing a book is the IDEA STAGE. This stage is when as a writer, you need to know of what you want to write. 

Like now I have a thought about how to gather information for book writing.  That is just an idea. It could be on my mind or written down.

The second stage is the stage of gathering the information together. This is the stage of looking for relevant information that will help to build that IDEA. Apart from personal intuition the kind of  information are the materials needed to work with the story. And they can be sorted from different angles or direction.

Usually, there are some points you first have to consider in your search for information. Your materials must be able to answer the five "W's" of writing, and one "H". They are:

WHAT? 

WHO? 

WHERE? 

WHY? 

WHEN?

and HOW?

Though writing a book comes with more detail explanation of your subject matter, it however must endeavour to provide answers to the above questions. 

For instance, WHAT are you trying to say in the book, WHO does it involve, WHERE is it relevant, WHY writing such a book, WHEN can the book be useful, and HOW can readers apply the book to their daily experience.

Some writers embrace different means of gathering information for their writing. They may go to library for research or use Google Search to know more about the subject. The important thing is to obtain the desired information.

Sometimes information gathering can be quite stressful. Especially when you are unable to get the exact information you required. To overcome such situation it's always advisable to suspend your search till another time. And in most cases the answer for such search comes naturally.

Finally you must bear in mind also that book writing varies. And gathering information for them also varies. What you take to write a motivational book is quite different from a technical book or educational material. So before you embark on any search you must know exactly the type of book you have in mind to write.

Dave Digitals - Much more than printing experience.