I was wondering is there some format to writing a book that I should follow, should I make a detailed plan of what is going to happen in the book or have no plan and just write? Should I have a kind of character profile for my main characters or let them develop on there own as I write? These are some of the questions I like to know the answers to. To be honest any help of direction you can give me would be of great help. Thanks :)

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When I type stories, I just let myself free and put down whatever is on my mind. Normally writers have readers find out what characters look like on their own. When writing a story, just have fun and write what you want.

It depends on how you like to write. I hate planning, I find it irritating, so I free write. But in my head I always go think about my characters building a picture of them. If making a character profile helps you write better then do it, me personally I don't like. Or you could just layout vaguely but sometimes the story just flows out and on to the page. All your questions depend on how you like to write, maybe try different techniques and try and see what happens. Free writing I think is simply easy just letting your thoughts hit the page and then the redrafting.. constant redrafting. But good luck!

There is no real format for a story that you have to follow when writing. It's really up to you and what you feel comfortable with and how you write. Some people map out every single thing that is going to happen in their book before they begin writing it. I mean characters are all figured out down to their astrology sign! Others just write with no plans or very little plans (because you need some kind of plot to start with!) and just figure things out as they go along. Even still, some people have clear outlines of plot and characters, but then their characters take on a life of their own and steer their writing down a path they had not imagined before! That's how I am. I know my plot and my characters, or think i do, but then i have some realization as I'm writing and figure out that that is not what the character is like at all!

You don't need a format for writing a book. Just format the way you want to. But if you're writing a query for an agent or editor, that's a different story.

You write it in whatever format you want. When you are asked to submit pages or a full manuscript, then you adhere to the submission guidelines regarding format of whoever asked to see it. However, it never does any harm to write in the most common submission format, so it looks natural to you. That's: Courier font (any kind), 12-point size Double spacing 1.0 " margins left and right, producing a 60-character line on the average (ranges from 55 to 65 characters depending on where long words fall on the line) 1.0" margins top and bottom, producing 25 lines per page Indent paragraphs 1/2 inch using the tab key, not spacing five times Do not leave a blank line between paragraphs No italic or bold (underline what should appear in print as italic) No hyphenation unless it would appear wherever the word happened to fall on the page Sluglines in the upper right corner, starting with page 2, consisting of your real last name, a one-word abbreviation of your title, and the page number On page one, upper left corner has your real name, address, phone, and email. One page one, upper right corner has word count, what rights you're selling (First North American Serial Rights?), and possibly “Disposable Copy” On page one, the title, in caps, is centered about 1/3 of the way down the page, then a blank line, then the word by, then a blank line, then the name under which you will publish (real or pseudonym) You can see more details about format at http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec98/shunn.htm In terms of writing, a plan is definitely the way to go for a book. A short story, you can 'free write' to see where it takes you without any loss if it takes you to a dead end, but with a book, you could waste hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of words and hit a dead end. IMO, more novels are unfinished because of poor planning or no planning than for any other reason. What form your plan takes doesn't matter. People write detailed synopses, use outlines, make spreadsheets, do bubble diagrams, create flowcharts. Whatever works, works. Many beginners also create character biographies for their main characters. If you know your character well enough before you plan your plot, you already know how s/he is likely to react to whatever situation you put him in. This can be really helpful in creating a realistic character who is true to himself or herself.