Get Started!

The hardest part of writing (of doing anything) is actually starting. Theree is this invisible barrier that stops us before we even begin. Our task seems daunting, insurmountable, unending. It isn't. It never is. If you can just get over that misconception and start writing, then you will find it's rarely that big of a deal. If you can't, then here's a few tips to try to get you started.

Write down your random thoughts. I keep a folded up sheet of paper in my pocket and next to my bed. If I don't write it down, I will likely lose it forever. I have a drawer that is slowly filling with these papers. Sometimes just looking at a single thought already written down is enough to make me want to write more.

Doodle. A blank page is intimidating, Draw some pictures, even if you can't draw. Draw a duck, a flower, or just some squares and cubes. Do you write longhand? Try writing in cursive. Try drawing the alphabet in mirror image. Put the pen on the paper and let your hand move. Close your eyes and try to draw a shape or a picture in your head and see how well you can do it without looking. Do what you need to do to fill up the page so that your writing is just filling in the blanks, rather than trying to fill up the page. If you run out of space, then you still have the entire back side of the sheet to write on.

Start in the middle. Sometimes just trying to think of that first sentence is that insurmountable goal. Well, instead of trying to climb it, just walk around it. Start writing the scene you want to write. Write out that dialogue that inspired you to write in the first place. Write a description of the city streets where the story takes place. Just because the audience reads it front to back doesn't mean it needs to be written that way.

Write a skeleton. You can call it a planner or an outline or whatever other name you like. The point is, write down the progression of the story. Where it starts, who is in it, where they go, what they do, key points, and follow it through to the end. Sometimes, when you are trying to find out the big picture, you are forced to discover the small details. And the small details of the big picture simply are the story itself.