Happy Canada Day to our lovely Canadian Authors! Other than yourself, name your favourite Canadian author 🍁
I'll go first, mine is Yann Martel (author of Life of Pi).
Here are some book ideas to base your next book on:
A book that includes illustrations or pictures, but in each picture, there is some sort of message or clue.
A book where the first sentence of each chapter provides the reader with a message.
I've heard of someone doing this next one... writing a book where no matter which chapter or order you read it in, it would make sense. This one might have actually been based on a show I heard of, where you could watch any episode in random order, and it would make sense.
A book where certain words are in a different colour (like red) and when put together would spell something.
(Not formatting related) A book where the main character's name is not revealed until the end of the book.
A book where you give a guide in the beginning to a made-up language, which is later used in the book.
If the book has white pages, then use a colour close to white (but not quite white) and write whatever secret message you want. You want the colour not to be white so that it doesn't fully blend in, but you also don't want it to be so dark that you can easily see it. I would go for a yellowish-cream colour so that only if someone pays attention to it, they'll see it, but if they gloss over it, they won't see it. Hopefully, I didn't make that sound too confusing.
If the book has a theme of a parallel universe where everything is the opposite of this world, then either design the cover to look upside down, or have the inside matter/text be upside down. Or maybe even have the reading direction be right to left.
(I've done this one) A book where the formatting is a mix between a novel and a script. I also provided a reader's guide in the beginning.
Let me know if you have any fun formatting or book ideas!
"Learn the rules like a pro, so that you can break them like an artist" (Pablo Picasso).
"The scariest moment is always just before you start" (Stephen King).
"You may not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page" (Jodi Picoult).
"Stay faithful to the stories in your head" (Paula Hawkins).
"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt" (Sylvia Plath).