Building a House and Writing a Book: Are They Built on the Same Foundations?

When a house it to be built it needs, plans, structure and foundations to stand upon, as does a writer when they start on a new piece of work. If you rush at the job the outcome might not be appealing to the eye, writing can be compared to building a house, advice on all areas of house building can be found elsewhere on the internet, this is an article for those who would like to become writers but feel the task may be too great and are putting off fulfilling their dream.

• Prepare Your Ground: Research

  Always take time to research. Is it safe material to use? Is it legal? Think plagiarism.

• Plans

  Look for new designs. Your confidence as a writer will show through good planning and you will create your own style that others will recognise, look for new angles but don’t be afraid to go back and use old materials or styles, draw up your plans, and write down your ideas and findings

• Scaffolding

  Support your work, use spell check, dictionaries and thesauruses, check the grammar, this will help your work stand strong when ready for public viewing

• Laying Down Foundations and Building

  For the writer, having a platform to build upon is essential, a topic or a character in the mind is an idea or a dream, the moment they are put on paper or captured on the computer they become a reality, something to be built, prepare strong foundations, have all of your basic tools and preparation ready, spend time smoothing out and levelling faulty work, add to the décor, find new fonts, clipart, illustrators etc. Work each day, take breaks, proof read, think positive and enjoy what you are doing, it will show in the finished product.

• Add Windows

  Read more in Writing

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  Photographs can enhance a piece of work, they can be the windows that the reader looks through to understand a little more of what you have written. Photographs allow the reader to add to the piece by using their imagination, this could make the reader feel the work is personal to them; it could make them feel that you have written just for them, you then gain a fan. Writing a brief outline of what the article or book is about helps the reader, it gives them an idea of what your work is about, it is the window into your work, a short descriptive, sentence can capture the readers eye.

• The Roof: Copyright

  This protects your work, a piece written by you is yours unless you sell the rights to others, keep copies, register your work if you wish with the copyright office of your country, post your work to yourself but keep the envelope sealed, the date is proof if you need to contest your right legally. There are several ways of protecting your writing, just type copyright on your search bar and you will find many answers.

• The Front Door

  This is the invitation to enter. Your finished piece is ready for viewing, the key to your success is to push it open and invite people to publish your work. Use email to contact publishers with a brief outline of your work and yourself, use an internet publisher site such as
  Triond
  , traditional stamp and post to publishing houses, there are the many ways you can get your work out into the big wide world, there are guidelines and how to get published articles on the internet, there are books with the names of publishing houses and the style of work they are looking for, the books are for sale or in public libraries, once you open that door be prepared to go to work.

• The House

  You have found the home for your work, now you can send the new address, sit back and enjoy the rewards of your hard work

• Property Maintenance

  If you have written an article using dates, be sure to return and update the piece if relevant, i.e. Building regulations for 2008 will need updating in 2009, maintain your property and it will last forever.

• Selling Up and Handing Over the Deeds

  When selling your work i.e. a book, get a reputable agent to act on your behalf, make sure you get good legal advice, read the contract before signing and know the full value of your property.

There you have it; builder or writer the answer to getting noticed is starting with strong foundations and working hard.