Fundamental Start Points
1. Decide what the story is about Write the concept and argument of your story in a sentence, then stretch that out to a paragraph, and then to a one-page outline. Now you have the basic overview of your story and characters.
2. Set a Time and Place; This will ensure that you don’t have to think about when you will write or where to write. When it’s time to write, it’s time to write.
3. Give yourself realistic deadlines. I find having a weekly goal is imperative to my productivity. To keep things objective, the way to do this is to set a Word Count. Be proud when you reach your goal, don’t critique yourself, remember this is about getting pen to paper. The editing will come. You need to have something to aim for and a way to measure yourself. This is the only way I ever get any work of any kind done: with a goal or deadline.
Let’s start today off with writing a piece on Love.
The magic wand to writing is writing.
There is nothing complicated about it, just start. Find that space and time, and simply begin to write your story. When I started, I wrote chapters in a short story format as I went along. I published them as blogs. Later on, I headed into the editing process, which I will cover later on, organizing and editing my blogs into the book. You will find a practise that works for you.
Don’t overwhelm yourself by believing you are starting to write a book. That’s not how writing works. You write a sentence, then a paragraph, then maybe if you’re lucky, an entire chapter. Writing happens in fits and starts, in bits and pieces. It’s a process.
You take one step at a time, then another and another.
To help you kickstart your writing, I am going to give you a prompt. And that is the Word’ Love’. It sounds simple, but the truth is love is a complex web of action and emotion. It’s an emotion that runs through every story in all guises. It can be pure love, deep love, lonely love, anxious love, abusive love, conflicted love, whatever kind of love you are feeling or experiencing.
Below some examples to help stimulate your creative juices;
1 Love in Isolation.
2 Family Love
3 Love for a partner
4 Lost Love
5 Broken Love
6 Enduring love
7 Obsessive Love
8 Love of a Pet
9 The pain of Love
10 Dangerous Love
11 Happy Love
This exercise will help you understand your voice in your style of writing.
So in the midst of all the chaos churning around and inside us, make a writing space for yourself, gather your tools, make the time, and start the magic. Completing this writing exercise will kickstart a process and motivate you to the next step.
Please email me your work, and we can share and critique our work together in a safe and positive environment. The idea is to build a community of writers and support each other during these tough times and beyond.
Email: room19sf@gmail.com, that’s my writing email. Room 19 is my short story script that was at the start of production but had to be put on hold until we come out the other end of the pandemic.
Get started, keep writing.Stay Safe, Stay Positive, Create, don’t Despair.
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