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Want to Write a Book? Start With This One Simple Habit

How do you write a book?

“One sentence at a time.”

When I first started writing, I didn’t have some grand vision of publishing a novel.

Hell, I didn’t even think of myself as a writer. It was just something I did, like brushing my teeth or running toward the coffee pot first thing in the morning.

If anything, for most of the time when I started out, I wished I had a cooler hobby.

Video editing.
Stand-up comedy.
DJing.

Something that would make people go, “Wow, that guy is interesting.”

Ironically, I would later learn that writing is interesting.

And after so many years, I didn’t write just one book—I wrote two.

My first one being an Amazon best seller.

Again, something I never intended to do.

So when I say this:

If you’ve ever wanted to write a book but feel like an imposter, trust me—I get it.

Writing a book is hard.
Writing a fiction book is even harder because that whole “build an entire world out of nothing” thing is not exactly like putting together a LEGO set.

But here’s the thing: if I can do it—and I’m someone with major commitment issues—you can too.

Because writing a book isn’t some mystical talent bestowed upon the chosen few.

It’s just a series of small steps that add up into a big step.

Here’s exactly how I broke down writing my first fiction book.

Step 1: Start Small (Like, Embarrassingly Small)

I got into fiction by writing something that could barely be called “stories.”

They were more like short, disjointed scenes—a character reacting to an app, an introverted guy responding to his extroverted neighbor, or whatever dumb thought popped into my head that day.

My only goal?

Write down exactly what was in my head. That was it.

I called these things “scenes” (which, I have no idea why I put in parentheses, by the way), and each was about 150–200 words.

No grand narratives, no deeper meaning—just small, self-contained moments.

And to my complete shock, when I posted one of these online, people actually responded.

“Wow, this is the best thing you’ve ever written.”

Which was… surprising.

Keep in mind, I was seven years into my writing journey at this point.

Seven years of trying to write real stories, only to have people prefer my tiny, dumb scene about a guy getting mad at his neighbor.

But that’s when it clicked.

The foundation of good fiction isn’t big ideas or fancy prose—it’s scene writing. Get that down, and you can build from there.

Step 2: Expand to Short Stories

Once I had a handle on writing scenes, I realized I had no idea how to write an actual story.

And if you look up how to write a story, you’ll get 100 different answers from 100 different people—none of which actually tell you what a story is.

Fun stuff, right?

So I felt stuck. And I figured the only way to figure it out was the same way anyone figures anything out: by practicing.

But instead of jumping straight into a novel and having a nervous breakdown (or five), I just took the next smallest step.

Short stories.

For me, these weren’t grand adventures—just little moments from my life that I shaped into stories.

For example:

  • That time I stood in line at the grocery store, pissed at the person in front of me with a huge order.
  • The moment my neighbor mowed their lawn, and I suddenly felt morally obligated to mow mine.
  • When I misheard someone at a coffee shop who was way too excited, and the whole store noticed.

These were everyday annoyances, but I turned them into stories. And eventually, I figured out what I couldn’t define before.

All a story really is?
A person wants something, but there’s a problem in the way. Every time they get close, something goes wrong—until they eventually figure it out.

That’s it.

That’s the whole game.

So I kept writing short stories, and people actually liked them. More importantly, I started thinking, Okay, maybe I can actually do this.

Step 3: Write the Damn Book

By this point, I felt like I had a decent grip on writing stories.

But a book? That’s a hell of a lot longer than anything I had ever written.

To say I felt intimidated was under the understatement.

I had no clue where to start. I wasn’t some literary mastermind with a 40-page outline and color-coded plot arcs.
All I had was a rough idea of the kind of story I liked.

So I did the only thing I knew how to do:

I started writing scenes.

And eventually, I figured out an annoying truth.

All a book is is a collection of scenes.

So I committed to writing one scene per day. I had no clue where the story was going—I just tried to follow the energy.

Some days, it felt like magic. Other days, I couldn’t stay off my phone. But little by little, those scenes stacked up. And one day, I realized:

I had a draft.

A very, very rough draft.

So rough that when I showed it to an editor, their feedback essentially was, “Maybe you should, um… start over?”

But I’m stubborn.

So instead of setting it on fire like a normal person, I went back and rewrote, refined, and polished until it actually worked.

My focus wasn’t on being deep or profound—I just wanted it to be entertaining.

Because at the end of the day, that’s why people read fiction.

Not to admire your sentence structure but to be pulled into a story they can’t put down.

And after months (okay, years) of trial and error, my first fiction book, Letters From Jasper, was done.

And people actually liked it.

Full Circle: How to Start Writing (Without Losing Your Mind)

If you’re intimidated by writing a book, I have good news.

It means you’re human.

Writing a book is hard. It’s confusing.  And it’s way easier to just think about writing a book instead of actually doing it.

But the secret?

You don’t start with a book.
You start with a scene.

Write whatever you see in your head. Do that enough times, and you’ll start to get the feel for it. And once you’ve built that confidence, you scale up.

Writing scenes teaches you how to write stories.

Writing stories gives you the momentum to write a book.

And the only way to start… is by starting.

So what are you doing now?

Please like, comment, share, and tell me what you think! Was this helpful?

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Tonysbologna | Anthony Robert | Substack

58 thoughts on “Want to Write a Book? Start With This One Simple Habit”

  1. Yeah start with “Once upon a time…” 😁
    Basically with anything you do: practise makes perfect 👌🏻

    Reply

  4. Hello Anthony! This sounds like the story of my life.😩😂

    “All a story really is?
    A person wants something, but there’s a problem in the way. Every time they get close, something goes wrong—until they eventually figure it out.”

    Seems like I am forever trying to figure something out. I guess my life would be pretty dull if it didn’t play out like a story.🤷🏽‍♀️😁

    Reply

  5. Hello
    love it
    Great advice on breaking down the daunting task of writing a book into manageable steps! Starting small with scenes and gradually building up to a full story is a practical approach for any aspiring writer. Thanks for the encouragement and motivation!
    Cheers!
    Scott Dubois
    Civic Edge Lifestyle

    The secret to generating income online is all about generating leads. Get your first 100 buyer leads in the next 10 minutes by Clicking Right Here https://llclickpro.com/66b3kcwy/

    Reply

  6. Tony, I love step 3! I would add to it, but not everyone is like me, as I write it first, make it pretty second. I tend to write in caveman style – lots of grunting, banging of sticks, and even some dancing. Making it pretty second is a must, because if I tried to make the book nice the first time, I’d lose my train of thought. Toot toot. Ugh!

    Reply

  7. Tony, thank you for writing about your imposter syndrome while starting out as a writer. I needed to hear this today. I’m not an imposter, and I’m going to finish my novel, just like you!

    Reply

  8. Great post for writers -I took my first creative writing course and it is all about the scene. I love that your capture even the tiniest moments of everyday life as scenes. And yes I’m writing scenes-just need to figure out the next step of gluing them all together .

    Reply

  9. I have never really gone through what you detail here as a writer. I started at age 9 with a poem. Then, I stepped up to crafting aphorisms and affirmations. Then, being that I’m ultra observant, I started creating stories from things I noticed in my neighborhood and my life’s surroundings, and fiction became my second writing love. Later, I started experiencing life at an even higher scale and levels of trauma made themselves well-known in my life and creative nonfiction introduced itself.

    I just sit down and write. And edit. And write. And edit. With fiction, characters tend to speak to me and speak through me, so their stories spill out as they form in my head. I don’t think I’ve ever actively focused on writing scenes. The characters pretty much show up, talk to me until they drive me crazy, and I write to tell their story and that’s that. Lol.

    But, I love this advice for new writers or for seasoned writers who are looking to change up their methods a bit. Thank you for sharing it!

    Reply

  11. Excellent. Similar to what I did, although I’ve never written short stories. I started out writing passages, scenes, eventually had a book idea and wrote the scenes that came to me. When I’d got most of those I started writing the bits that woud link them together I still write the same way, more or less. We do what works for us in terms of details, plotting or pantsing, but this is the basis of it all. Thanks for laying it down like it is. 🙂

    Reply
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  18. Exactly!

    But you know what! Sometimes it so much tough like you are driving and get a scene in mind an amazing one! But you get that pen down at the end of the day and when you started drafting it! Surprise! It gone!! Or you don’t remember the main part!!!!✨

    Reply

  20. I do think one factor you need is great enthusiasm for what you’re doing, because, let’s face it, finishing a novel is really, really hard. Congratulations to all of you out there who’ve done it. I’d love to read what you’ve created, but my caveat is I want to read it right here on WordPress!😜

    Reply
  21. Pingback: Want to Write a Book? Start With This One Simple Habit – Site Title

  23. This is the kind of information I wish I had been given in my fiction workshop class back in college. You know, practical and useful. Instead, we had to bring in a completed short story and then sit there and listen politely as each of our classmates took turns ripping it apart and telling you what you should have done different. It wasn’t exactly motivating.

    Reply

  24. Wow, great advice. This is similar to advice I got in my bachelor’s level writing class that I wished I’d gotten in high school. Instead all my life I’ve been told I write too short. I once got an F on an assignment because my professor said it was a vignette not a short story. If he would have given me the advice you suggest I would have a couple books written by now. Thanks for your insight.

    Reply

    1. Hey no problem, one time I got yelled at professionally because of my conversational writing style- years later I own a copywriting business because of that same style

      Reply

  28. Circling back to this. As a wise man once said, “The human brain is fascinating. It turns on and runs 24/7 since the day you were born, and never shuts off until you sit down to write.”

    Reply

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