How to Write a Book (Part 2, with 2025 Commentary)

​When I first started teaching, I was working with my students on how to write an explanation for a process. Last week, I shared an example that I wrote for my students with a quick breakdown of the process of writing a book. This weekend, I thought it would be fun to share my breakdown of the process after going through the writing, editing, and publishing process for my TENTH book!
 
I’ve kept last week’s notes in here in black, so you can see the original, but the writing in blue contains my 2025 opinions and comments about each part of the process.
 
 
How to Write a Book, by Breyanna Evans (with 2025 commentary)
First, you need an idea. The idea is a central part of the writing process. It is what keeps you organized, motivated, inspired, and allows you the initial push you need to begin your writing project.
 
I still believe that you need an idea to start with. Without an idea, having the drive to complete a story is much more difficult to maintain.
 
 
 
Once you have an idea, then you need something to write on. Anything will do for the drafting phase. You can write your first draft by hand, on a napkin, type it up in your phone… the possibilities are endless: And here’s an even cooler part of the drafting process: It can be anything. You can create your draft whatever way you want to. Some authors have been said to have written their drafts for novels on napkins in restaurants!
 
Yes, you may be able to tell that I wrote this as an example for my middle schoolers. I do still feel that the first draft can be written on anything. The first 75% of my debut novel was drafted in a composition notebook. I think the most important thing is to get the words on the page, and for many, writing on paper for the first draft is most helpful. Often, it allows people the freedom to write without being tempted to go back and edit, and it also allows for fresh eyes for story developments as the story goes from hand-written draft to typed manuscript.
 
I will say that I do a lot of idea jotting and outlining via handwritten notes on blank white paper, but I do the majority of my drafting by typing into a document. I personally prefer typing my rough draft from the start because it saves me time, and it allows me to find my notes within the document more easily.
 
I would also add to this section that there’s some brainstorming, outlining, or WHAT IF work during or before the drafting process.
 
 
 
While you are writing your rough draft, do your best to write a beginning, a middle, and an end, and try to make your scenes and chapters flow well from one to the next. This organization doesn’t have to be done in the drafting phase, but if it is, it can make your editing process much easier to complete.
 
I still agree with this portion. I think that the more of an idea you can have for your story structure prior to writing it, the more cohesive your story will be, and the less deep.
 
Rather than just focusing on a beginning, a middle, and an end, however, I AT LEAST like to try to have my beginning (including world building and my inciting incident), my rising action (including the major conflicts that my characters will face), at least a rough draft of the climax (or my character’s turning point/darkest moment), my falling action (or how the story winds down), and at least a very rough draft of my resolution.
 
 
 
When you have finished your rough draft (emphasis on ROUGH), you are ready to begin the first read. This is the part of the writing process often referred to as the macro edit, where you read the story to make sure that the story as a whole works. You are not editing or searching for mistakes in your writing: You are merely reading to make sure that everything makes sense. Does your plot work, do your scenes flow, do your characters seem real and fulfill their purposes?  The macro edit is meant to answer all of these questions.
 
Simply put, I still agree with just about everything I wrote for this step of the process. Although I now like to call this part of the process a developmental edit (because it’s more helpful in reminding me the purpose of the edit and what I’m focusing on).
 
For every story I write, I have a developmental edit where I read through the full story (or have an editor read through the story) and look for areas that need to be improved, then for many stories, I will do a full re-write of the story so that I can fix these things more seamlessly as I go. For other stories, I make those changes and make a note to check to make sure I’ve smoothed everything out in my next edit.
 
 
 
After the first read, you may begin the micro editing process. As its name implies, the micro edit is where you pick your piece apart: Search for errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and dialogue. These are tiny things that make a world of difference in your draft.
 
After editing comes formatting. This is the step that allows you to make your document your own, with a style that suits you. You can change page colors, sizes, numbers, edit your font, and create chapter headers. If you choose to put a table of contents in yourmanuscript, this is the step you would want to do it in, after you have completed all of your chapter headings.

For these two parts of the publishing process, I have made changes in my own process as I have evolved as a writer. First, I find that formatting my book prior to going into my micro edit (which I now call my proofreading/line editing) allows me to catch more errors. Often, changing font or formatting allows you a fresh perspective of the manuscript, which can be very helpful in catching tricky little errors.

 
Finally, you send your manuscript off for copyright and beta-reading. Did you know that once you have written a manuscript, even if you don’t send it off for legal copyrighting, if you can prove you wrote the script, it is technically already copyrighted to you? Cool, huh!

Lastly, create your cover. Many authors hire professionals to design and create their cover so it can be as appealing and marketable as possible. However, if you have a talent for it and you know what types of covers suit your particular genre, you can create a cover of your own.

Okay, I’ve got a lot to say about this chunk here.

I do still send off my manuscript for copyright prior to sending it out for beta reading. It always makes me feel just a little bit more comfortable if I’ve already registered my copyright with the Library of Congress before I send my book out for other people to read. I do this much earlier in the process, these days, though.

I now send my book off for copyright after my developmental edit and send it off for beta reading right away after that.

I also start my cover design process much earlier as well. I find that it’s helpful to start designing my cover (or finding someone to work on my cover) when I’m about halfway finished with my first draft. This allows me to have enough story to know what vibes and color schemes I want to be on my cover. I also design my own covers, so starting early allows me to chip away and make adjustments as my manuscript evolves.
 
Now, you’re off to be published, which is a process all in its own. Congratulations on completing your manuscript, and good luck!

I still agree that the publishing process is its own beast, and much of it depends on writer preferences and opportunities available.
 
Thank you for reading! A lot has changed for me in the last few years that has forced me to tweak and reform my writing and editing processes.