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Nail Your Book Writing Format Like a Pro (Without Losing Your Mind)

Book Writing Format Like a Pro

So, you’re writing a book. You’ve got the ideas. The passion. Maybe even a killer opening line. But then—bam! The formatting monster shows up. Margins? Indents? Font choices? Suddenly you’re knee-deep in settings you didn’t even know existed. Let’s work on nailing your book writing format like a pro, and let’s do it in a way that would keep you from losing your mine.

Relax. You’re not alone, and you’re definitely not doomed.

Whether you’re writing the next great novel, a business book, or a memoir about that wild summer in ’88 (you know the one), your book writing format matters. Why? Because formatting is like clothing for your words—it can either make your manuscript look like it’s headed to a job interview or like it just rolled out of bed with bedhead and coffee stains.

So let’s dress that manuscript for success.

Below are the five essential pillars of great book writing format—especially if you’re planning to self-publish. These aren’t fluff tips either. This is the real-deal, get-it-right-the-first-time stuff. Let’s go!

Nail Your Book Writing Format Without Losing Your Mind

✅ 1. Book Writing Format: Choose Reader-Friendly Fonts and Sizes

Your story might be fire, but if it’s dressed in Comic Sans or written in 8-point Papyrus, readers will run—not walk—to the next book on the shelf. Fonts matter, and not just to designers. They set the tone, affect readability, and play a surprising role in your credibility as an author.

For print books, go classic with serif fonts like:

  • Times New Roman (the old faithful)
  • Georgia (slightly softer on the eyes)
  • Garamond (for that subtle, elegant touch)

Stick to 11- or 12-point font size. Anything smaller screams “please squint,” and anything larger makes your book look like it’s shouting at people.

For digital formats, you’ll want fonts that translate well to screens, like:

  • Arial
  • Calibri
  • Verdana

Digital readers can adjust font size, but don’t make them wrestle with a weird default. Think smooth, clean, and readable.

Pro tip: If you’re using a tool like Vellum or Atticus, you’ll have presets that take the guesswork out. But if you’re formatting manually—this part matters.

✅ 2. Book Writing Format: Use Clear, Consistent Paragraph Formatting

Here’s where things can get real messy, real fast.

First off: DO NOT hit the space bar five times to indent your paragraphs. This is 2025, not 1997. Let the software do the heavy lifting.

Set your paragraph style to first-line indent of 0.5 inches. You can do this in Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, or pretty much any writing program with a settings button.

Next up: line spacing. Aim for 1.5 or double-spacing. Not only is this easier on the eyes, but it also makes your manuscript easier to edit and proofread later. Bonus: It won’t look like your words are gasping for air.

And for the love of clarity: avoid extra line breaks between paragraphs unless you’re shifting scenes or thoughts. Think tidy, not cramped. Spacious, not sloppy.

✅ 3. Book Writing Format: Adapt Layout for Medium (Print vs. Digital)

A one-size-fits-all format? Not a thing. What works beautifully in a paperback might be a formatting disaster on Kindle.

For print books:

  • Fully justify your text so both left and right margins look crisp and clean.
  • Set mirrored margins to allow space for binding (aka the gutter).
  • Add page numbers, but skip numbering your title page or copyright page.
  • Use page breaks between chapters—not just a handful of carriage returns. That’s amateur hour.

For ebooks:

  • Left-align your text. Justified alignment can cause awkward spacing on small screens.
  • Use reflowable text, meaning your book adjusts itself to fit any screen size. (No locked-in pages, please.)
  • Skip fancy headers and footers—they won’t show up well and can frustrate readers.
  • Include hyperlinked navigation so readers can tap and jump to chapters. Trust me, your future fans will thank you.

Remember: Amazon KDP and other self-publishing platforms have their quirks. Always preview your file using their tools before hitting “publish.” It’s like spellcheck for formatting.

Format Your Book Like a Pro

✅ 4. Book Writing Format: Keep Chapters Organized and Navigable

Imagine trying to read a book with no chapter breaks, no table of contents, and no idea where you left off. That’s not a book—it’s a hostage situation.

Break your book into clearly defined chapters, and start each one on a new page. This isn’t just about looks—it’s about logic and flow.

And don’t skip the table of contents, especially for ebooks. It’s not just a courtesy, it’s a sanity saver. Bonus points if your TOC is clickable—nothing says “I’m a pro” like smart navigation.

While you’re at it, consider using consistent chapter headings like:

  • Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins
  • Chapter 2: That One Time Everything Exploded

Even if you don’t use titles, numbering matters. Keep it clean, keep it consistent.

✅ 5. Book Writing Format: Prioritize Consistency and Professional Presentation

Formatting isn’t just about looking good—it’s about building trust with your reader. If your font jumps around, your headings change styles mid-book, or your margins mysteriously shift, it sends a not-so-subtle message: “This book might be a mess.”

Start by picking your style choices early:

  • Font and size
  • Heading hierarchy (e.g., Chapter Title = Heading 1, Subsection = Heading 2)
  • Margins, line spacing, and indents

Then—stick with them like your book depends on it (because it does).

Not sure if you’re nailing it? Use tools like:

  • Vellum (Mac only, super intuitive)
  • Atticus (cross-platform, built for authors)
  • Reedsy Book Editor (free and web-based)

Or—if formatting gives you hives—hire a pro. Seriously. A good formatter can take your raw manuscript and turn it into a sleek, bookstore-ready product. It’s not cheating. It’s smart.

Would you like to know more about writing a book? Here is a good place to start. Also, if you would like a whole book on the subject, get a great one here.

Final Thoughts: Formatting is the Secret Sauce

You don’t need to be a design expert to format your book like a boss—but you do need to care enough to get it right. Great formatting doesn’t draw attention to itself. It lets your words shine.

So go ahead, write that masterpiece. But when it’s time to format? Give it the same love and attention you gave your plot twist or killer first sentence.

Your readers might not consciously notice perfect formatting—but they’ll definitely notice when it’s wrong.

And remember: Good content gets people to buy your book. Good formatting keeps them reading it.

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Want To Write A Book | Where To Start

want to write a book | where to start
want to write a book | where to start
Want to Write a Book | Where to Start (Click to Watch the video)

I’m going to kick things off by surmising that you have a book idea in the oven, but before you preheat to 350 degrees and start baking that literary cake, you’ll want to figure out who’s coming to the party. Establishing who your audience is isn’t just a box-ticking exercise; it’s central to the success of your book.

You’re probably asking, ‘Why does this matter?’ Simply put, knowing your audience shapes everything from the tone and vocabulary of your book to the marketing strategies you’ll employ upon release. It’s about setting the stage for a conversation between you and your readers where the topic is your book.

Now, how exactly do you zoom in on your audience? Start with demographic parameters like age, gender, and interests, sure. But don’t stop there. Dig into the psychographic aspects too, like values, aspirations, and challenges. This isn’t just about compiling data; it’s about getting to the heart of your readers’ desires and fears.

Once you have a rough sketch of who your audience is, it’s time to test and adjust. Beta readers, surveys, and social media can all be instruments in your symphony of audience understanding. Through them, you can observe firsthand what resonates and what falls flat.

Right about now, you might be realizing that identifying your audience is also a process of self-discovery. Choose something that resonates with you as much as with them. After all, the best books emerge from the intersection of the author’s passion and the audience’s interests.

Uncover the Challenge: Pinpointing the Problem Your Audience Faces

I’m here to help you with a crucial step that’s going to include putting yourself in your audience’s shoes. Understanding the challenge your readers are up against isn’t just a matter of intuition; it’s an art of empathy. When you know what bothers or confuses them, or what obstacles they can’t seem to overcome, you’re on the right track to providing a solution that resonates with them.

In my opinion, the core of a compelling book is one that targets a clear, relatable problem. This isn’t just an issue to be solved; it’s a way to connect with your readers on a deeper level. If you want to make your book indispensable, you’ll need to pin down a problem that’s both significant and specific to your audience.

Now, identifying the problem isn’t something you take a wild guess at. Conduct thorough research; talk to people in your target group, engage with them on social media, and immerse yourself in the environments where they express their concerns. Surveys and interviews can also yield goldmines of insight.

Once you’ve gathered this information, distill it into a clearly defined problem statement. Choose something that resonates with you, too. Remember, the sharper the identification of the problem, the more precise your solution will be. And a precise solution is what makes your readers’ lives easier.

Now, what if you’re worried about not getting it quite right? Don’t. Your first attempt at a problem statement doesn’t need to be the last. Refinement is your friend here. Get feedback, adjust, and move forward. It’s this cycle that ensures you’re developing a book that’s truly tailored to your audience’s needs.

In the next section, I’m going to take you through how to turn these problems into opportunities. That means creating actionable steps that directly combat the issues at hand. We’re going to build a stellar roadmap for your readers that’s both practical and implementable. Stay tuned.

Crafting the Solution: Steps to Solve Your Audience’s Problem

This isn’t just about writing any book; it’s about creating a resource that genuinely helps your readers. Now what? After identifying and empathizing with your audience’s challenge, it’s time to outline actionable steps to solve their problem. You can always adjust your approach down the road, but having a solid starting point is critical.

Begin with brainstorming 5 to 7 clear, practical steps based on your expertise and the needs of your readers. These steps aren’t arbitrary; each one should serve as a milestone towards a tangible solution. Don’t worry too much about the details at this stage. The goal is to create a scaffold for your content.

Strive for a balance between depth and simplicity. Yes, your steps should be comprehensive, but also accessible. If your first step seems too complex, break it down. Each step must be actionable and specific enough that your reader can see progress as they go along.

Confirm that each step relates directly to the problem you’ve identified. If a step seems off-topic, it’s not helpful. Clear relevance is what will make your book resonate with your audience. In my opinion, relevance is what differentiates a good book from a great one.

With your steps as the foundation, you’re going to find out about building upon them in the next section, where the focus will be on transitioning from a basic outline to a full-fledged book. Choose something that resonates with you as a structure to expand upon, ensuring it can withstand the addition of complex ideas and research.

Expanding the Framework: Building a Comprehensive Book Structure

You’ve pinpointed the problem, and you have your golden steps ready to guide your readers towards a solution. But hold on, you’re not just going to hand over a list of steps and call it a day. You’re crafting a book, a resource that your readers will cling to, refer back to, and maybe even pass on to friends. And that’s where structuring your thoughts into a comprehensive guide comes into play.

Think of your initial outline as the skeleton of your book. Each bone—or step—in that skeleton is fundamental, but it’s the flesh and muscles—or chapters and sections—that make it walk and talk. Your job now is to expand those solid steps into engaging, informative chapters that provide depth and context. This isn’t about padding your book with fluff; it’s about adding value, enriching the narrative, and honing in on the practical application.

How do you make that leap? Start with research. Delve into what’s out there already. Take a good look at the tables of contents of books addressing similar topics. This isn’t about mirroring what’s already done but about understanding what resonates with your audience. Identify gaps in the existing literature that your book can fill. Maybe there’s a perspective that’s underrepresented, or perhaps there’s an area that’s been overlooked.

Then, it’s time to draw out your chapters. Flesh out the outline with relevant anecdotes, case studies, and your unique insights. Develop each step into a chapter that’s robust with actionable advice, clear descriptions, and illustrative examples. If you’re tackling complex concepts, break them down into digestible pieces. Your reader should be able to put down the book at the end of each chapter with a clearer understanding and tangible takeaways.

Remember, there’s a lot happening in the publishing world, and you want your book to stand out for all the right reasons. Emphasize clarity, practicality, and a narrative that captures and keeps interest. Bounce your drafts off trusted readers; get feedback and refine as you go along. Your first draft is just that—a draft. It’s your springboard to something greater.

Choose something that resonates with you and your readers—something you’re passionate about but also offers them real, substantial help. I really hope that you find this journey of turning your problem-solving steps into a comprehensive book as rewarding as it is challenging. As you venture through this process, remember that your first attempt doesn’t need to be your last. You can always adjust and refine. Good luck with your book-writing journey—I’m cheering for you!

Check out my book on Amazon if you would like more writing tips.

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Rules for Writing Fiction

I hope you’re having a great day. Let’s talk about rules for writing fiction. I guess you could say these are Randy’s informal rules for writing fiction.

Walking with Randy Video

I have written a longer fiction book, which I have not published yet, but most of my fiction writing involves providing illustrations for sermons and other nonfiction writing. However, I have picked up a lot of tips along the way.

Rules for Writing Fiction
Rules for Writing Fiction

1. There Are No Rules

Rule number one: remember there are no rules. In other words, you can be creative. Have fun as you’re thinking about fiction. You may come up with a new technique that many people in the future will be following. So first of all, there are no rules.

2. To Your Own Self Be True

Rule number two: to your own self be true. This should take a lot of pressure off as you’re getting ready to write fiction. Just have fun as you’re doing it.

Your story can be a reflection of yourself
Your story can be a reflection of yourself

3. Balance Being True to Yourself & Finding Out What Readers Like

Even though there are no hard and fast rules for writing fiction, you want to balance being true to yourself and finding out what readers like. Well, that is if you want to make money from your writing, or if you want to have a wider audience for your fiction writing.

Then balance being true to yourself, but also do market research. Find out what people like, and then do a lot of reading yourself. Find out what you like in fiction writing

4. GO! When You’re on a Roll

Number four: go when you’re on a roll. When you’re writing, there are those days when it’s just coming easily and just so much fun. On days like those, just keep the words flowing. Now, I would encourage you to have a goal to get the story finished. Get it done.

You may be very analytical and a perfectionist, and you may edit every day. Well, that’s fine, but I would encourage you to be sure that you get your story written down.

While you’re on a roll, just go with it. Don’t worry about correcting everything; even if you’re one of those perfectionists. Then at the end of your writing session for the day, you can go back through and do the editing.

When you're on a roll, keep going!
When you’re on a roll, keep going!

Now many of us, or at least some of us, can do well by just going through and getting the entire project done and then going back and doing the editing. But either way, daily editing or editing when you’re all done will work. But when you’re on a roll, go with it! That’s when writing is the most fun: when you’re inspired.

Although if you force yourself to have a daily goal, several weeks later, you may look back and not be able to figure out which days you were on a roll and which days you just did the discipline of getting the words down on paper. That always amazes me.

5. Find a Good Editor

Rule number five in my unofficial rules for writing fiction is to find a good editor or learn the skill yourself. It really depends on how you’re going about doing it. If you’re going to be self-publishing, then you can either find a good editor editor, or you can learn the skill yourself.

It may be that you’re already good in certain areas. For example, you may be good at proofreading or you may be good with punctuation and grammar. If not, then you may need to find someone to help you. So you need to either find a good editor or learn the skill yourself.

Now as far as the flow of the story, and the overall theme of the story, you are the best editor for your own book. You know it inside out. You know the message that you want to be presented.

6. Develop Interesting Characters

Number six: develop interesting characters. How can you make your characters interesting? Well, they’re interesting to you. That’s the first clue. But you can start by developing a certain type of character. To build interesting characters, you will want them to have some flaws, a backstory, some quirks, and an inner struggle. So the sixth rule for writing fiction is to develop interesting characters.

7. Have a Goal

Rule number seven: have a goal. The story is going somewhere. You’re trying to save the world: you’re trying to solve a problem, you’re trying to get somewhere in the story. You want to have a goal.

Write your story with an ultimate goal in mind
Write your story with an ultimate goal in mind

You also will want to have obstacles to that goal. Include the ups and downs and overcoming of obstacles.

Of course, you want to have an ultimate victory, or at least those of us in the Western world want to have an ultimate victory. Like the old fairy tale genre, we want to have happy endings.

As I said earlier, there are no rules. You can do it differently. But these are Randy’s rules for writing fiction.

8. Have an External & Internal Story

The last “rule” is to have an external story and an internal story. The external story involves the circumstances, the settings, and things you can see outwardly taking place in the story.

Then the internal story involves the struggles that are within the main character or some of the other characters. It’s good if you have these elements in your stories.

One More Suggestion

An additional idea is to add a philosophical point to your story. That is if a certain philosophy is important to you. Again, remember, there are no rules for writing fiction. An example of a philosophical story is, “Good overcomes evil.” You may have a philosophy like that that you want to present, even though you’re writing fiction.

Well, those are my eight rules for writing fiction, plus a bonus suggestion.
There are no rules
To your own self be true
Balance, being true to yourself with finding out what readers want
Go! when you’re on a roll,
Find a good editor or learn the skill yourself
Develop interesting characters
Have a goal
Have an external and internal story
BONUS: Add a philosophical point

Helpful tool
Helpful tool

I hope these eight rules for writing fiction will be helpful for you. For more tips like these, go to the top of the blog and click on “writing“. Or, go to Amazon and get my book “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death”.

Until next time, I’m Randy Carney and I want you to remember YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 13: Remaining Chapter Writing Plans & Set-Ups for Headings & Subheadings

There's a lot involved in getting a book published.

Welcome everyone to day 13 of the 28-day writing challenge. I want to report on my progress today. I decided to change course just a little bit.

Day 13 vlog.

You may recall from yesterday, one of the things I had gotten done was create mind maps for the remaining chapters. Today, I have fleshed out more of those writing plans for the three remaining chapters, which are chapters 14, 15, and 16. I then went into the document and I put in headings and subheadings for all three of those chapters. I may write some more today, but I’m not sure.

Progress

I really think that by the end of the day tomorrow, unless something unforeseen comes up, I will be caught up and all the new chapters will have been rough drafted. I really think that that’s going to come about.

Steps to getting that book written.
Steps to getting it done.

Then, if my copying and pasting go well, I may have those first seven chapters put in. If not, I will get that done Monday.

Ahead of Schedule

But I want to remind you that tomorrow will be day 14, which will be halfway through the writing challenge, and I will have the rough draft done by then.

Normally I would finish that on day 24 and use the remaining four days to do the editing, so I’m going to have a lot more time for editing. I’ll get my regular first-round edits done next week, which would be through day 19. Then I’ll just get to do more and more polishing.

Next Steps

I will start thinking about having a book launch and a launch team to help me do that. I will also start working on a cover.

Writing a book involves more than just writing.
Writing a book involves more than just writing.

I was really pleased with the last cover that I had made and I’m going to see if Katrina Richmond (my assistant) will give me some ideas again. Hers were so good, I just picked it out last time. I might get some more to look at too as we do it this time but we will just see how it works out.

Anyway, that’s all for today. I hope you’re doing well. Remember, YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 7

Hello, everyone, welcome to day seven of the 28-day writing challenge. Well, today I got the next chapter, number 9, done for the book I am working on. I still have 2 questions to answer for that chapter. I need to do more research.

As I mentioned, you can, if you have your book blueprinted out, start on any chapter you want to, or even parts of a chapter.

Vlog for day 7

Research Codes

I’ve mentioned before that one of the ways that you can handle taming your research is to use certain codes. What I mean by that is you can research and research and research and never get started writing.

When you come to the point where you need to get started writing you will come to items that will need further research or that you may need to corroborate to make sure that your facts are right.

Tools to help with research
Tools to help with research

One of the ways of handling that is to put special symbols like three asterisks (***) together. Then when you do a search and replace you can just go to those areas where the *** and you can put in your new information.

I’ve been told that the letters T and K right next to each other don’t appear in any words in the English language. I haven’t really checked that out myself. But since I’ve tried it I’ve not run across any so it’s easy to just go and put in the “TK” in an area where you need to do some research.

Don’t stop right there when you’re on a roll, especially if you’re using this faster writing method. Just put in your code there. You may put XXX, or ***, or TK. Then when you’re ready, search for that and it will take you right to the spot where you need to put in the information.

If you do your research this way, it becomes very targeted and relevant research because you are searching for specific information instead of getting tons of information that you may not use.

So using research codes is a little tip for you as you’re doing this.

There’s Still Time

I’m still one day behind, but I think that I will get back on track. Am I the eternal optimist? I don’t know. If I’m the eternal optimist, that means that won’t ever get back on track. But as a realist, I probably will be back on track before the end of this week.

Still moving forward
Still in this race!

How about you? How’s it going for you? Have you planned out your book? Have you figured out how long you want your book to be as a starting point? Have you figured out some chapter titles for your book? Have you gone further than that and perhaps made some outlines for your book? Have you come up with some headings to put in for your chapters?

Maybe you have gone through those blog posts that I recommended and followed the method that I’m using where you come up with 12 to 18 ideas. You then eliminate three of those ideas, put the ideas in the best order, then turn each idea into a statement or a question, and finally turn all of your statements into questions.

If you use that method, you will end up with anywhere from nine to 15 questions. Then, you need at least three “trigger words” to remind you of the answers to each of your questions. What happens if you don’t use all of your trigger words? Well, if it triggered you to be on a roll, it doesn’t matter. You’re the only one that knows what those trigger words were, anyway, although I do try to use them all.

This book is a very useful tool.
A helpful tool.

Now, there is a book that tells you how to do that. It’s called “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death.”

I encourage you to go over to Amazon and check it out.

In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful day. Remember, YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK.

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 4

Welcome to day four of the 28-day book writing challenge. I have to confess that I did not get everything done that I wanted to get done today.

6-Figure Writing and Blog Post Suggestion

I want to tell you about something you can find on this blog, which is randycarney.com or randysblogs.com Either one will get you to the same place. If you go to the top of the page, you will see a tab that says “Writing,” and there’s a down arrow beside it. If you hover over that you will see “Six-Figure Writing” pop up. If you click on that, it will take you to a page about a course that you can get that will give you weekly lessons for writing.

Now if you go back one page and click on “Writing” again, go to the bottom of the page and click the arrow to the right to go back to about 3 pages. The best way to find the posts I’m talking about is to look for the dates. I’m recommending the blog posts from January 25 through March 2.

I suggest reading some selected posts from the writing section of my blog.
Suggested reading

They all talk about how you can come up with a writing plan for your book. They will tell you how to have a plan for each chapter in your book. I did not get that far along yet this time. If you are doing this 28 days following along you’ll have to do as I do. You will either have to spend more time one day beyond just the writing to catch up and finish out to writing plan.

But you need to at least get the first chapter planned out. Then Monday, whenever you write that chapter, you’ll spend a little extra time getting chapters two and three at least planned out. Or if you just have extra time or you could spend an extra hour and knock out a bunch of those chapter plans. How to do is found on the blog posts from January 25 through March 2. I would encourage you to go and read all of those, take notes, and get a grasp of how this is going to work.

My Progress

I would like to have had my whole book blueprinted out from here. A blueprint is just a chapter writing plan. But on this 28-day challenge, the goal is to be able to work about 75 to 90 minutes a day. Some days it will take two hours, some days you might have to have some catch-up days.

The Schedule

An overview of the schedule for the next few weeks.
A rundown of the schedule

We’re not writing 28 consecutive days in this challenge. We are doing four days as the first week, and then we will have four weeks of five days in the week. In other words, we started on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. So we have four days the first week. I’m not counting Saturdays and Sundays. So then the next four weeks we will have 20 days (5 days a week) so that will be 24 days, and then the last week will be another four days and that will finish up our 28 days. Not consecutive. I’ll be taking Sundays off and I’m going to be using Saturday for a catch-up and you can do that too. If you’re following along and you’re trying to do this, I pray that things are going well for you.

Heading into Day Four

So yesterday I talked about surveying the top 10 books in your category. I did the category of marriage in general and then I got more specific and I was surprised that when I typed in “valuing your spouse,” I did come up with several books. That phrase wasn’t in the title, but there were quite a few that were relevant to what I was talking about. So that was very good.

Brainstorming & Grouping Ideas

What I’m attempting to do today is brainstorm. I came up with the research from those books, I made notes from the table of contents, and I put in some quotes. Then after I did that, I came up with two pages of just brainstorming. So, we did the brainstorming,

Brainstorming.
Find a brainstorming method that works for you.

For today I was able to survey nine books. I wrote down chapter titles that stood out to me and a quote or two that were interesting to me. Then as I already mentioned, I brainstormed and filled up two more pages of ideas.

After that, I grouped those ideas using symbols (as I talked about on day 3), putting the ideas that were similar together putting a symbol by those ideas. I put a triangle by a number of ideas that were similar. Then I put a square beside a number of ideas that were similar, I put a checkmark by ideas that were similar. I did that until I got all the way through my list. I did have some that were outliers that didn’t fit into groups.

Chapter Length

So I could easily come up with ideas for about 10 more chapters. As I said I already had seven chapters. So this would make the book about 170 pages long. If I followed the strict way of doing this the older way of coming up with 10 pages per chapter.

However, as I’ve mentioned, the new idea is that books are shorter than they were in the past and that’s what is preferred by readers. So if I allow the chapters to be six to 10 pages long, the final result we can have somewhere between 130 and 170 pages.

That’s quite encouraging because I wondered if I would be able to even come up with the 100 or 120 that I was shooting for, to begin with.

Chapter Titles

Tomorrow I will be coming up with the chapter titles, and then a list of ideas that go with each chapter. (This is a summary of what you will find in those suggested blog posts) I will come up with keep putting ideas down until I get 12 to 18 ideas, then I will eliminate three. That means I will end up doing nine to 15 ideas to do the chapter plan.

Chapter ideas
Chapter ideas

I arrange those ideas in the best order and then turn each of those ideas into to a statement, a question, or a sentence. Having done that, then I go through the list again, and I make all of the ideas questions. Then I will write down three trigger words or ideas that will remind me of the answers to the question.

That takes some time, and it’s probably more than the allotted 75 to 90 minutes. But once it is done, it just makes everything else flow together so much more easily so I will be glad to spend the extra time either tomorrow or just extra minutes in the day.

Next Week

Next week is when I get started in earnest because I’m going to write my first new chapter. If you recall, I already have seven chapters, which I will tweak somewhat but I will be starting my first full chapter Monday.

That would possibly be the first chapter of your book.

So, I encourage you to go look at those six or seven blog posts from January 25. through March 2. That will show you what I’m attempting to do today and tomorrow and maybe for a few extra hours next week.

But once that outline, that plan is done then the rest of the time will just be spent spending 75 to 90 minutes on getting those things done. If I do shorter chapters it might just be 60 minutes on those. If you read the blog posts, you’ll better understand what I’m talking about.

Today’s Wrap-Up

Remember if you don’t already have a timer, I would highly recommend using one because it really works. It’s what worked for me; even in the brainstorming. You can spend hours and hours and be all over the place and the timer helps to narrow things down for you. You can always add things later. But it helped me to narrow things down.

I came up with 10 groups, although I haven’t named those groups yet, because they’re all very similar. Those could be for 10 more chapters as I look at it more closely. I may combine some of those and figure out which ones to eliminate.

That’s all for today. I hope you have a great day and remember: YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 3

Welcome to day three of the 28-day writing challenge. I’m glad you’re joining me today.

Yesterday we talked about the number of chapters that we’re trying to get our books to. In my case, I figured out that I had enough material I had already written for seven chapters. Now of course some of that will have to be tweaked, but I think I have that much material.

My goal is to do maybe five more chapters. Now that’s not set in stone. That will just bring me up to 125 pages. I can go as high as 200 pages if that’s what it takes to cover my topic. Right now, however, I’m looking for enough ideas for five more chapters.

Time Management

What I want to talk about on day three is time management. You typically want to set aside 75 to 90 minutes a day for working on your book. Some of you may be able to do this in 45 minutes or so, but that would probably be the exception. Generally speaking for me I’m thinking of 75 to 90 minutes every day. Of course, I do have to work around my other schedules.

A timer can help you accomplish your goals.
Using a timer helps with time management.

How are we going to accomplish this? In my case, I’m going to use my magic kitchen timer. What that does is it forces us forces me not to edit too much as I’m going along. This is not the final product, so nobody’s going to see this but me. So the timer forces me not to edit too much as I’m going along. I can allow some typos and spelling errors as I’m doing this because it’s all going to be rearranged before I get to the final product. The timer creates an artificial deadline and we respond to deadlines.

What’s Next?

Today, I want to do two things. One was going to Amazon and researching books that are similar to the ones that we want to write. Now, I will say that since my book is about valuing your spouse, I suspect I may have a little challenge in finding other books on that topic. I am writing about the importance of valuing your spouse and the importance of having similar values. Now there’ll be a lot of books about values and Christian values. So I’ll be looking at some of those as I’m going along.

Brainstorm!
Brain dump time!

The second thing: I’m going to set my timer for 15 minutes as I do this. I don’t know how much research I’ll get done in the first 15 minutes, but I will set it again and I may do it as many as three times.

But after that the times up, I’m going to take a sheet of paper and fold it over, and I’m going to just start writing down ideas. I’ll have the timer set for this also, probably for 15 minutes. I’ll fill up that side, flip it over, and fill up that side. If I need more room, I’ll get another sheet of paper. fill up the page. So that’s how I do what I call a “brain dump.”

Getting Organized

It’s time to organize your list.

Then if you have time, you can see in the above video, I have several different symbols drawn. There’s a checkmark, left and right arrows, up and down arrows, triangles, squares, and circles. You’ll have this big list of random ideas and you will use a symbol to group similar ideas together. So all of those that are similar under the checkmarks, and then other ones that are similar under squares, and so on. That’s how we’re going to do that. We’re going to do the “brain dump” and then classify ideas into groups.

These steps will be very helpful because the groups may end up being our chapters.

So that’s the plan for what I’m going to do next. Then tomorrow, we will create the plan for the writing of our books. In my case, I may only need five days in the 28-day plan we actually have 20 days. So if I get my five days to work the way that I want to, then I will have some time to do more editing of the book than I would have in a normal 28 Day Challenge.

However, if you are planning on 20 chapters, then you’re probably going to fill up the 20 days if you are using 75 to 90 minutes a day.

So today I will research similar books, I’m going to do a brain dump and I’m going to group those ideas. I want to set my timer in 15-minute intervals. Tomorrow I’ll talk more about how you can create a plan that will cry out to you to write your book and you will look at that and it will just say, “Write me!”

I hope you had a good day today. Remember, YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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Start Writing Fiction – 5 Reasons Why

I’m so glad you’ve joined me. Today, I’m talking about writing fiction: five reasons why. In the video below, I mention four reasons, but you’ll discover that there is a bonus reason at the end!

The First Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Can Exercise Your Creativity

Well, one of the first reasons for writing fiction has to do with the fact that you can exercise your creativity. Now whenever you are doing nonfiction, of course you can exercise creativity somewhat. But you can do it even more whenever you’re doing fiction. So you can exercise your creativity.

Creativity is a cornerstone of fiction writing.

Sometimes in nonfiction, I recommend that you put in some fictional items to illustrate your point. Or you could possibly have made up examples of what you’re talking about. So, the first thing is that you can exercise your creativity.

The Second Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Will Enjoy Your Writing

The second thing is that you can enjoy your writing even more. Now I have to confess I do enjoy nonfiction writing, but you can enjoy it even more whenever you are creating a story. It’s fun to create stories. You can create your stories, and, as I said, you can put some of those fiction examples in with your nonfiction writing. Then, you’ll have double enjoyment, especially if your nonfiction writing is something that you are passionate about. When you add your stories to your nonfiction, it’s even more enjoyable.

Fiction writing can be very enjoyable.

The Third Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Can Start with Short Projects as Well as Long Ones

The third reason is that you don’t have to write “War and Peace” right out of the gate. You can write shorter versions of articles. There’s even a genre for that in fiction: The short story. It is a long-established genre of fiction writing. So you can you can do something shorter. You don’t have to be writing a very, very long novel, just out of the gate.

The Fourth Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Write an Endless Number of Projects

Another reason to start writing fiction is that you have endless possibilities with it. Whenever you do a lot of writing in nonfiction areas, it will be an area where you may be branded in that particular area, or something that you know a whole lot about, so you end up writing all about that. However, eventually you reach the limits of your knowledge about what you have started talking about. You can break it down further and you can have different steps whenever you’re doing it, and sometimes you can explain things in a different way.

But whenever you’re writing fiction, the possibilities are endless. You can just write story after story. You can create new characters. You can have new settings. You can just write write, write write, write a lot of fiction!

The Fifth Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That All You Need Is an Idea in Order to Start

Finally, the fifth reason to start writing fiction is that all you need to get started is an idea. Now, in your nonfiction writing, you have to actually know the particular steps to do something or you have to know the description of whatever it is that you’re talking about.

An idea is all it takes to get started on that fiction story.

But in fiction writing, all you have to have is an idea. Of course, if you are going to talk about how certain detectives work, or maybe how the police would work, you’re either going to have to read a lot and be really familiar with how things actually work, or you may have to do some research in those areas. But even at that, you can start your story and continue your research. Once the research is done, you can go in and edit.

So, those are some reasons to start writing fiction.
1. You can exercise your creativity.
2. You will enjoy writing even more.
3. You can start with short writing and short stories and you might even be able to sell some of those to magazines.
4. The possibilities are endless.
5. All you have to have to start is an idea.

Well, I hope this has been helpful to you. Until next time, I want to remind you that you can get more tips like these by going to www.randycarney.com. Even better, you can follow the link to Amazon and get my newest book “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death.

Remember, you can write a book

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Halloween: Fun, Fear, and Hope

“In the United States (and other countries), Halloween has become one of the most popular unofficial holidays. On the upside, retail sales boost the economy around this holiday” (Bodie Hodge – Answers in Genesis). – second only to Christmas!

“On the downside, the holiday has become a time of increased crime in many places (especially arson and other acts of violence) on Halloween night as well as the night before. Even the author’s house was robbed one Halloween by forced entry. So, although the retail industry loves Halloween, many police officers and insurance companies dread it! Of course, there is also a tremendous amount of occult activity associated with this holiday.

“Kids and even many adults love getting dressed up for Halloween.” Of course, they love the candy too. It’s just innocent fun, isn’t it—or is it? (Hodge)

Sermon Video, Ezra Church of God

A Little History Lesson

“The holiday, though, has roots reaching much further back. As for the origin of Halloween, some researchers claim that the holiday can be traced back about 2,000 years to the Celts of Europe, who occupied parts of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. They held a pagan festival called “Samhain” (pronounced “sow-in”) that celebrated, more or less, the honor of the dead and involved the offering of large sacrifices of crops and animals.” (Hodge) You may have heard of the Druids. They were the pagan priests.

Many cultures observe a “Day of the Dead”. This celebration is very widespread and may have come even before the tower of Babel.

In 600 A.D., Pope Boniface IV started a holiday called “All Saints Day”. Originally, it was held in the spring. Pope Gregory III moved the date to November 1st. Perhaps it was to provide a Christian celebration as an alternative to the pagan celebration. Then, after the Reformation, reformers dubbed October 31st “Reformation Day.”

Fun

Halloween can be a fun time for children and adults alike.

Many people observe many fun activities around the time of Halloween: Hot dog roasts, hayrides, costume parties, sometimes not usually trick or treat – at least not the “trick” part, but some mischievous fun.

Rhonda (my wife) and I have been in churches that had Halloween parties, some that were completely opposed to any type of celebration around that time, and some that had alternative activities like fall festivals.

For many years, our focus was upon Rusty’s (our son) birthday and didn’t engage much in the other activities. Of course, if people came to our house dressed up, we would give them candy.

Fear

As we move from the fun to the fear we can see the bridge of superstition to real evil. Superstitions about ghosts, demons, monsters abound during this time. Those who celebrated the pagan festivals in the past thought the day was a bridge between the living and the dead.

This can move us from superstition, which is imaginary, to real evil.

There are definitely real forces of evil in this world. Demons and demonic activity are very real.

African cultures are familiar with evil spirits, and it seems to be more than superstition. Missionaries report seeing evidence of demonic activity.

The Bible mentions demons several times. It also talks about demon possession. For example, the Gadarene demoniac and Mary Magdalene.

There are real Satan worshippers. Some of them have been deceived by Satan. While they may talk about worshiping Satan, many of them today are really just secular humanists with an absence of God.

There are also the “old school” Satanists who seek to call evil spirits, perform incantations, and the like.

It has been alleged that some very high-level people have been involved in Satanic rituals.

The Bible speaks of Satan and his angels. Satan has an angelic origin himself. At any rate, he has a desire to be like the Most High and to displace God. Satan is pleased when people begin to dabble in the occult.

Often, people begin to explore Satanism because of a desire for power. But we can submit to God and resist the devil!

I Peter 5: 5-11 (WEB)

The first of two passages of scripture.

5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your worries on Him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

The Devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. While a true Christian is not going to actually be possessed, Satan can still bring a lot of temptation to your life. He can bring oppression.

Don’t give Satan a foothold! Resist the little things. Remove bitterness. Fast and pray.

Revelation 20:1-15 (NKJV)

Satan Bound 1,000 Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for [a]a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Satanic Rebellion Crushed

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where[b] the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Great White Throne Judgment

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before [c]God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second [d]death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Hope

What about those who have never accepted Christ? If you haven’t accepted Him, right now, you’re traveling with Satan and his angels, and you’re headed to the same destination as they are. Verses 1-10 above tell us this.

The cross offers hope!

Here is the hope! Jesus loves you so much that He went to the cross to pay the penalty for your sins.

That’s how you resist Satan’s temptation. The Bible says Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). You can come to Christ. I am sure about that! God said that He so loved the world that whoever believes in Him will be saved. God is not willing that anyone should perish. More than anything, He wants you to come to Him. But, you have to take that step. Otherwise, you will wind up with the Devil and his minions. If you don’t receive Christ, you will die twice; once physically and once spiritually. But, if you accept Him, you only die once, and then live forever.

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It’s Here!

The day that I’ve been anticipating for several months is finally here! My new book, “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death” is available for immediate download.

My granddaughter, Paisley.

I’m so excited to be able to help you start your dream of becoming a writer. You can do it! In my new book, I offer several helpful tips and strategies and include some personal experiences along the way.

It's time to celebrate!

If you’re seeing this on November 15, 2021, I have a special deal for you. The Kindle version is available for an incredibly good price. Just follow the link here, download, read it, and take the next step in your journey to becoming an author. Or, you can go to Amazon and search for Randy Carney, and see the new book, along with the other books I have published through the years.

As always, thank you so much for your support and encouragement. Happy writing!