# Start-your-book template

From "How to start a book: from idea to first chapter" by the Feldar team:
https://feldar.com/guides/how-to-start-a-book

Free to use, copy and change. Fill in parts 1 to 3 in an evening, write the
first scene line, then use the log for your first thirty days. A plan for
starting is one page, not a full outline.


## 1. The idea

Working title:
Premise (two sentences: who wants what, what stands in the way,
what it costs if they fail):

Who is at the centre:
What they want (something we can see from outside):
Five things that could go wrong along the way:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Books it would sit next to on a shelf (genre):
Target length (words):

Other ideas, parked for later:


## 2. The one-page plan

Who the main character is when we meet them:
What is in the way:
Three or four turns you can already see:
1.
2.
3.
4.
A guess at the ending:

The first scene (where chapter one happens, and what goes wrong in it):


## 3. The habit

When I write (days and time):
Where I write:
My minimum per session (words or minutes):
Who I will tell that I am writing (one person, to ask how it is going):


## 4. The first thirty days

[ ] Week 1: idea chosen, plan written, first session done
[ ] Week 2: first chapter drafted, not rewritten
[ ] Week 3: second chapter under way
[ ] Week 4: still writing; fix-later list started

Rules for the month:
- Stop each session mid-scene, with a note of what happens next.
- Reread only the last page before you start.
- Changes of mind go on the fix-later list, not into chapter one.
- Missed a session? Do the next one. No double sessions.


## 5. Fix-later list

-
-
-


## 6. Session log

Date | Words or minutes | Where I stopped
     |                  |
     |                  |
     |                  |
     |                  |
     |                  |