|  A selection of strong characters, based around one main character. You shouldn't have too many characters in the book as this will confuse the reader, also use simple names nothing long or "different" as this will also confuse the reader.
PLAN the book well, this can take a good few months to make a good plan, but you should know when you start the book what is going to happen at the end and each chapter should be planned.
Have a good range of events happening in the book, this will keep it interesting for the reader. Ensure there is a clear beginning middle and end!!
Use a Prologue and Epilogue in the story, an Epilogue of 18 months on for example is a good way to go, with just a chapter or so long of what happened next, this means the reader KNOWS the story is over.
Research the book, if you are writing about a "place", make sure you go there, take photo's so the description is accurate and "takes the reader" there. Maybe base (very loosely) characters on people you know, or a mix of people you know (your main charatcer may be a little of you a little of your friends etc), this makes them easier to write about.
Make sure you have a backlog of information about your characters, each need their own story, even if this never comes into the book, as it gives them a background and a depth! Write a few paragraphs about each character, their birthday their siblings, their parents, where they were born, married/kids? etc etc
Make sure you have a clear audience, is your book going to be for the older generation, is it going to be chick lit for the young to middle aged, is it going to be a book for young adults? This will make a difference to the writing style you use.
Be sure to set adise TIME to write your book, a book can take years to write, and you need to be commited to it, put at least an hour a day aside to write your book, somewhere quiet to write is essential, with NO distractions!!
When you have written a few chapters, try sending it to a publisher to get their advise on the book, many won't be willing ot take it from you, but you should find someone to read it, this is a good idea as they may even decide to buy the rights to the book before it is even finished, giving you a cash advance, though this is unlikely, it is always a possibility!
It can be hard and disheartening to write a book, as it can take so long, and you can hit many obstructions, mental blocks etc, but you have to try and work through them! Maybe try not telling anybody you are writing a book until it is almost finished this way you won't feel pressured into completing it by family and friends!
Maybe email some writers and get advice from them.
A creative writing course can be a good idea, you can go to night schools for this, and they don't tend to cost much money to go on and can make all the difference!!!
I hope this helps! :)
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