So you want to write your story?
What is stopping you?
Do you feel overwhelmed?
Maybe it seems like too big of a job.
Maybe you don’t know where to start.
How do you figure out your strategy, the road map for your story?
Can you imagine a theme or a direction that this could flow?
As you get serious about writing, you bump up against questions like these.
What is your purpose or goal in writing this?
How will you start your story? Where do you want to end up?
What do you hope your reader will get from your story?
Who in fact are your readers? Who is your audience? For whom are you writing?
When I am in this spot – contemplating that I need to write my story, but not sure how to go about it – I consider two questions: What will I write? and When will I write?
"What will I write?" refers to the above issues.
"When will I write?" is perhaps even more important because until I make a place in my schedule for my writing, I will never get any writing done. I have to carve out time to write. It may be planned and disciplined or it may be spontaneous and flexible, but I must somehow provide room in my life for writing.
What about you? Does it work better for you to write spontaneously – to drop everything and grab your pen whenever the inspiration hits? Or are you more successful when you carve out a specific regular time in my schedule? It could be first thing in the morning, on lunch hour, when you get off work, or just before bed.
I have discovered that I need to do both. I want to get better at being alert to the inspiration of the moment and to do that I’ve discovered that I need to prepare for those moments. But I also have proven to myself that I need the consistency of a regular writing habit first thing in the morning. I need the exercise, I need the pattern, and I need the discipline.
In my opinion, the first step and the most important step is to write something - anything - to get the creative juices flowing - and to write regularly, consistently, often. Once you have carved out a spot in your schedule you can then begin to work on some of these other issues. In other words, you can use that time and those pages to experiment and brainstorm and find the answers to the questions about what to write or how to write it.
What is stopping you?
Do you feel overwhelmed?
Maybe it seems like too big of a job.
Maybe you don’t know where to start.
How do you figure out your strategy, the road map for your story?
Can you imagine a theme or a direction that this could flow?
As you get serious about writing, you bump up against questions like these.
What is your purpose or goal in writing this?
How will you start your story? Where do you want to end up?
What do you hope your reader will get from your story?
Who in fact are your readers? Who is your audience? For whom are you writing?
When I am in this spot – contemplating that I need to write my story, but not sure how to go about it – I consider two questions: What will I write? and When will I write?
"What will I write?" refers to the above issues.
"When will I write?" is perhaps even more important because until I make a place in my schedule for my writing, I will never get any writing done. I have to carve out time to write. It may be planned and disciplined or it may be spontaneous and flexible, but I must somehow provide room in my life for writing.
What about you? Does it work better for you to write spontaneously – to drop everything and grab your pen whenever the inspiration hits? Or are you more successful when you carve out a specific regular time in my schedule? It could be first thing in the morning, on lunch hour, when you get off work, or just before bed.
I have discovered that I need to do both. I want to get better at being alert to the inspiration of the moment and to do that I’ve discovered that I need to prepare for those moments. But I also have proven to myself that I need the consistency of a regular writing habit first thing in the morning. I need the exercise, I need the pattern, and I need the discipline.
In my opinion, the first step and the most important step is to write something - anything - to get the creative juices flowing - and to write regularly, consistently, often. Once you have carved out a spot in your schedule you can then begin to work on some of these other issues. In other words, you can use that time and those pages to experiment and brainstorm and find the answers to the questions about what to write or how to write it.
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