First thing you want to do is check with your local school district and see if they have a Young Authors program available. We have a county Young Authors program where all the kids from different schools in our county get together to share their stories. At our Young Authors conference there are creative workshops to go to and you get to meet a real author. Our conference takes place on a Saturday and lasts from about 8:00am to about 3:00pm. One year we learned how to make a pop-out book. That was a neat workshop. Then the students in the group get together and share the stories they have written. If you have never been to one you have missed out on a great experience. You don't have to go to a public school in order to attend either. There are kids from private schools and home schools as well. So be sure to check.
The second thing I do is figure out what I want my book to be about. You can write about anything you want. It can be a fiction story (which means it's not real, like a fairy tale) or it can be non-fiction (which means something real, like a trip you took). Here are some ideas if you need them to get you started. Sometimes just looking at other ideas will give me an idea of my own.
The third thing I do is make myself an outline to follow. An outline is like a 'map' with words and ideas to follow instead of pictures. Here is a place where you can print out a 'map'. Just fill in the spaces with the appropriate information. That will get you ideas down on paper and in order. Sometimes you will find that you have more than one story idea running around in your head. By using an outline map I have found that it helps me to organize all of my ideas. Otherwise, I end up with a story that I have a hard time ending.
The next thing I do is take my outline map and start working on my rough draft. I start with the first line and work my way down. Each line usually gives me at least a few pages in my story. Once I get my rough draft all done, I go back and read it again and see if it makes sense. I usually write the same story over and over again before I end up with the final draft.
Finally, I type my story out in wordpad or some other write program. I alway try to leave room for illustrations. Since I don't do too good at drawing, I sometimes use clip art for that.
The last step is binding your new book. If you don't have a way to bind it at home, you can go to just about any print shop like Kinko's Copies and have it done. It only costs a few dollars and they do a really nice job. You can have your pages laminated too if you would like. I always have at least my front and back cover laminated so that they won't tear. That's all. Your new book is now done. Congratulations!! Please e-mail me and let me know once you have made your book. I hope that I have helped you. If you have any questions be sure to let me know and maybe I can help or point you in the right direction.
I'm not a professional author by any means. Far from that. I just enjoy writing stories and reading. It is a fun way to spend the evenings. Someday I would like to be a writer that has had books published. In the meantime, I enjoy trying to write a story that is fun to read and keeps peoples attention. A really good author is L.M. Montgomery. Be sure to check my Book Nook to read about some of her books. I hope to someday be as good at writing as she was.