So I'm writing a book, for the first time... Any pointers or anything?

I might put up the first chapter when I get my own phone.... But I need tips... I really want this to be published...

Hi Ashtyn!
I was just trying my hand at this with NaNoWriMo (never finished... but I have pointers!)

I would suggest getting a ridiculous amount of flash cards and write your small plot changes on each of them so you can arrange your story before writing it up. This way you can also break down where characters fit in, where they need to come in and so on/so forth. It's also a lot easier to organize it first --AND finalize it that there plot-- than having to go back and edit things out later.

Hahaha I never thought of it... I mean I have the basic plot... I can tell you if you don't mind reading a wall of text... It's probably a terrible idea thought >.<

Getting organized is very important in my opinion. XD

Depending on how you write. There are different ways that may suit your working style.

I second what Xuvrette said. There is also the issue with dedication, if you are really dedicated and you stick through the process of writing it then you will have no problem. However, what I have come across and I'm sure many writers have too is they start writing and then slowly, the ideas start to run out and before you know it you have said everything that you wanted to say and there is nothing more to add. When this happened to me I (regretfully) abandoned my story and never came back to it. If this happens, you could leave it and then go back to it, say, two days later and hopefully you would have some more ideas to jot down. To be honest, organization and planning is the key. Plan in detail and plan carefully.

Well honestly so far my family who has read it really enjoys the characters (I introduce two of the three main in the first chapter. They say they love the characters because they seem real, like it could be my real best friend or the neighbor etc etc....

I usually have a dedication problem but this is the first book I've been excited about and really have planned it out more and more. Right now I'm kind of just in the planning phase :)

Another thing is to KNOW yourself.
Some people works well with preplanning, some prefer to plan WHILE writing. Planner type and discoverrer type.

Planner, most probably plan EVERYTHING. should have ending in their mind, or a few endings. Which I am, it is bad in terms of all the motivation hype was use up during planning stage, so... need motivation to continue.

Discoverer, start off with basic setting and character, just write. Which I had attempted before, a lot of times, but I failed. Because there is no ending, it is never ending, slowly my hype will also die. But since there is no definite ending, I dump it faster than I did with the planning ones.

Main difference is, Planner did MORE thinking BEFORE writing, while Discoverer did most of the thinking DURING writing.
I had tried both ways. And in both ways, there are other techniques and methods that could help. But both ways doesn't end well with me. So I further analyze what is wrong with my approach.

This time, I am trying the approach of starting from the BACK. as in, I have an ending. so now I have to work towards it. As of now, 200k words, still going fine. Well, as long as there is motivation. I have high hope in this current project. In summary, know youe weakness, then use appropriate method to counter it. There are a lot of guides on line.

I think I'm kind of a mix of both. If I have my characters planned out to where they are almost human than I easily can write... If that makes sense

How much did you preplan?
Do you have an idea HOW the plot goes? how the setting is? How the character would end up? Ending?
If you have 80% things all figured out, including all important story points, then you are a planner.
If you just start with character, with no further idea how they could end up, you are much a discoverer.

and my previous post is a lengthy blabbering of, even finding out I am a planner type is not the end of finding my weakness or solutions. Trial and error. oh, and enjoy the process is very important too.

Well I have the characters prettying all planned out, have the basic plot a little more than basic, and I know how it ends lol XD nothing in between though xD

Sometimes I create characters for fun. So not much story there...

Is that a definite ending? If it is just a possible ending, it can be changed later. plus, without the in between, a lot of things can happen. That sounds like discoverer type to me.

Hahahaha yea I suppose you're right. No definite ending lol