First of all, do you have the language that goes along with such a deal. Second, are you mentally disciplined to see it through? Third, can you tell a story with heart and a whole lot of continuity?
The art of writing best sellers normally does not begin with the notion of making money. It germinates with a seed of a thought that you have a story to tell and your strongest weapon in your armoury is your imagination.
To tell a story well, you must begin with an outline of the story. It must have a beginning, a middle and an end. There must be a clear thread that links all the chapters.
When you elaborate on a subject, make sure you have most of the facts. You can tell a tall tale but if it doesn't convince the reader, you as the author are clearly in trouble at the end of the sentence.
What readers love most of all is a story written with a heart that is pulsating with life. It must draw the tears, evoke passionate feelings and bring on the laughter. Can you do all that and still be convincing?
Almost everybody has a story to tell but to hold the reader spellbound is an art. Not everybody is cut out to be a first rate writer. Sure, all of us have tales to tell. To be successful at story telling, you must first have all the right ingredients.
Then you have to mix it up in their right proportions and cook at at different temperatures at different times. The climax would be a book that the reader can't put down. Now, that will be a best seller.
Even the thought of writing a book is rather daunting to 99 out of 100 aspiring writers. So to "dilute" the fear of embarking on such a gigantuan project (it's all in your mind), you should tackle one page at a time. Then, progress to one chapter at a time.
But you should have in time how many chapters you think your book should have. Of course, if you are in the company of Tolstoy, you can go on and on until you are totally exhausted and can continue no more. Otherwise, it would be prudent to set a cut-off point.
We don't want to ramble on and on until you bore the reader to death. There's nothing so ego-busting than to hear a comment like, "that guy has written rubbish".
Some of the little details that you should remember are the text size of the book. Don't let the printer print too small a body text otherwise, all those above the age of 40 will avoid reading your magnus opus.
Make sure you have a fairly attractive cover.
All best sellers do not have an insipid flavour. They have the bite of a really powerful tom yam soup. It tends to give you a kick after the first three pages and then it proceeds to throttle you until you desperate fight for air.
Put yourself in a good mood when you are penning your thoughts. Find an inspiring workplace. Work yourself up. Get into the zone, so to speak. And don't forget to have a couple of good dictionaries around the table. We don't want you to make any silly spelling errors.
There's nothing so irritating as wrong spellings. when you have finished writing the last chapter. Go and see a movie and the next day, read the whole darn thing. Better still, make members of your family read it. Be ready to accept brickbats. That's part of the game.
Some best sellers show their true colours after the sixth revision.
Make the book so exciting that even your grandmother wants to read it. If your book elicits no reaction, that means it has failed to lock in on your reader's feelings.
One last bit of advice, be prepared to accept the fact that your maiden effort could turn out to be a turkey. Don't be disheartened. Continue writing. Very, very few writers have successful first novels. Sometimes a bit of humiliation is great for character-building - yours!
So, here are some of the tips:
1. Do you research and do it well
2. Use the right words in all the right places
3. Let the characters in your novel tell the story. It is their show (actually it's yours but don't hog the limelight)
4. Flesh out the characters. Make them believable. Give them some flaws, too. If they are too good to be true, then they are unbelievable.
5. Make the reader see all the details in their minds. Thus, the necessity of details in the most imaginative scenario possible.
6. Touch the heart of the reader and you will fire his imagination.
7. Be ready to rewrite entire chapters. Look, even Picasso threw away some of his own paintings.
8. Don't give up. Tell the story well and then go to sleep.
9. Is there a moral to the story? Readers like to know where you are leading them.
10. Conclude the novel with a feeling of satisfaction on the part of the reader. Otherwise, you would have failed. Nobody likes to finish reading with an empty feeling.
Remember, write from your heart and you will touch the heart. Read as much as possible yourself. All those bits of information will act as fodder for future novels. Be interested in mankind, in individuals and children. These are the people with the most interesting backgrounds.
Most of all, be yourself. When you write a good book, it is as much a reflection of your own personality as it is a reflection of your writing skills.
Do not let your ego overshadow the mission of your novel. Be prepared to get criticisms. That's how you learn.
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