How an Aspiring Author Wrote his First Book?
All it took is a sentence
Jeffery Archer is among my favorite authors. He also features among the world’s 25 all-time best-selling authors, having sold 330 million copies of his books. (By the way, William Shakespeare is top-selling, even ahead of J K Rowling. His books have sold an estimated 4 billion copies).
11 years ago, I happened to hear Jeffery Archer in person. He was in Bangalore to launch his new book, Paths of Glory. He explained how he went about writing a book. I still remember three of the techniques he mentioned. Here they are, in his own words (approximately):
1. Don’t really need a story to start writing
Often when I plan to write a book, I don’t have any story in mind. I make a schedule. Say, write from 6 am to 8 am; take a half an hour break. Then write again from 8.30 to 10.30, followed by half an hour break. And so on. I keep writing, 8 hours every day, week after week, till I have a book. He said it took him three months to write the first draft of the book that he had released that evening.
2. Create trouble in every chapter
I thrust my protagonist into a sticky situation and then end the chapter. I have no idea how I’ll get him, or her, out! While…
