As of 2016, there were 134 million books published thus far, with about 737,000 more published each year. And you want to add another one to the ranks.

But writing a book takes a lot of effort, especially when it comes to the actual physical labor required. For those with arthritis, or who don’t have the patience to deal with computers, it can feel like an overwhelming process.

So, how do you write a book without actually sitting down to write? Is that even possible?

Thankfully, yes it is! With modern technology, it is easier than ever to write a book without any actual writing. And in this article, we’ll go over how to write a book without the main bit of labor.

Read on for more information on how to bring all of your ideas to life without sitting down to type it all up.

How to Write a Book: Developing Your Ideas

In order to write a book, you’ll need an idea and some thought as to where the book will take its readers. Of course, you can’t just write a book without any planning in advance.

If you’ve never written a book before, the process might seem daunting, or it may seem incredibly easy. But the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Begin your book by fleshing out your idea and developing some of the main ideas or characters. If the book is fiction, you don’t necessarily need to know where the story will lead. Some people like the book to take them by surprise. Others like a well-mapped out story.

Either way, you can’t start a book with zero ideas of where it’s going.

Read Other Books

Before you write a book, you should be well-read. Many top authors say that the best way to write a book is to read as many as possible.

Read up on your subject or the area of fiction you intend to publish in. This will help you not only garner ideas but get an idea of writing styles. It will also help you figure out exactly how you want your book to sound, or not to sound when it’s finally finished.

Read as many books as you have time for. After all, if you don’t have time to read, then you don’t have time to write.

The “Writing” Process

Here’s where things get interesting: writing without actually writing. Many writers love to sit down and type out or write out their stories.

But not everyone is the same. Some people love for stories to flow through their brains and get frustrated that they can’t write as fast as they can think.

Luckily, thanks to technology, we can solve that issue quite simply. In the next couple of sections, we’ll discuss some of the alternatives to writing that can be very helpful.

Voice to Text Software

Voice to text software works very well for blind individuals or those who cannot see very well. For these individuals, they can easily write out what it is they need to say by simply speaking it into a microphone.

There are many text-to-speech software programs out there, and you can shop around to find the one that works best for you. Most programs give you a headset and microphone to speak in. You can then dictate the story, and the software will magically turn it into text.

In some cases, you might have to go over the work to make sure it got everything correct. But it’ll still be much better than sitting down and writing, for those who find it a chore.

Use an App

There are many apps on the market that allow you to use text-to-speech software but on the go. They allow you to use your phone’s internal microphone to create a transcript of a phone call or your ideas, which will make it so much easier to keep going with your book while you’re out and about.

Normal text-to-speech software only works when you’re at home in front of your computer. This type of text-to-speech software allows you to record your book on the go.

There are some apps that also function as a call recorder, which can be useful for you if you need to record conversations for work or other events.

Some apps also offer really cool services such as transcripts created by humans for just a few dollars or less per minute. This eliminates some of the issues with text-to-speech software like the technology not hearing you correctly and then creating misspellings or misplaced words.

With an accurate transcription, all that will be left to publish your book is to format it accurately. That way, you’ll be ready to submit it to publishers or agents when you’ve finished dictating it.

Writing a Book

There is no simple answer to the question of how to write a book. Every author is different, making both their books and their approach to writing them to vary from individual to individual. It is up to you how you to choose to tell your story, but the most important thing is that you do get it out to the world.

So, now that you’ve written your book, are you ready to publish it? Read our article on some of the best ways to get a book published.