TO WRITE A BOOK, YOU NEED A SOLID PLAN. Which first requires you to have an idea. Don't have an idea? Don't worry, there are many ways to wake up your imagination.

A game I play with myself when I can't think of book ideas is what I call 'The Song Story Game'. Go to your favourite playlist, and put the music on shuffle. For each song, try and think of a story based on that song; the plot could be based on the song title or the song's lyrics. Although this will lead to some horrendous ideas for books, you may actually think of one. Shall I give you an example?

E.g from the song 'Recovery' by James Arthur you could get the idea for a book focusing around the rehabilitation of a person with a mental illness and their transition back into the real world from the hospital.

That may not be the greatest, most ground breaking plot in the world but from there you can always expand.

Other ways to think of plot ideas is to base your books off your own dreams, or warp your own personal experiences to make them more exciting. Sometimes ideas just come naturally, but sometimes you need a bit of help.

After you have an idea, you need to plan your book! The first thing to do is draw up a rough outline if what will happen in the story and I suggest making some mind maps about your characters (making notes on their appearance, personality etc). Then after, make a specific chapter plan where you write what will happen in each individual chapter. This will help you write and also help you avoid the cursed writer's block!

If you are having trouble creating characters, check out my book 'How to Make an Original Character'.

So with plan in hand, its time to move onto the actual writing!