One question I get asked most of the time is “How to start writing?” Or it’s always one of my online friends saying they have an idea in their head or a plot but they don’t know how to write it or how to turn it into a novel. If you’re someone who’s thinking the same questions then let me angrily motivate you to get your ass down on that desk and start typing away. Because typing is how every story begins.
{Trust me this isn’t only about you. I need me some motivation potion too so let’s get
into it.}
Buy a diary/ journal/ grab some blank papers or notebook with blank pages + a pen/ pencil to jot down every random idea that swirls in your head / use your phone to achieve the sameStart with free writing for ten minutes if you don’t want to start writing your novel straight away –
sit down for ten or fifteen minutes and write without pausing to read or edit whatever you’ve written – you can write about your day, what you ate, what your friends or parents said to you, what you saw while you were out, anything that stuck out or made you happy or feel something, or you know all the boring details, it’s just words about your day, don’t think and write anything Read daily even if it’s just a page or two from a fiction or non-fiction book because anything that goes in, comes outUse your commute time to get some writing done if you travel to school or workIf you stay at home, wake up early or sleep late to get ten minutes of writing done [remember not to bring your distractions here]Write daily even if it’s just a word because soon it’ll turn into a sentence, then a scene, then a chapter and one day you’ll have a full-length novelCreating gets tiring if that’s all you ever do so try new hobbies [for me it’s doodling, drawing, cleaning, embroidery, journaling, painting, watching k-dramas, DIY, and of course blogging, writing random scenes, or working on a shiny new WIP]If you aren’t writing – create Pinterest boards, and Spotify playlists, read more books related to your genre or about your craft, research your topicsOn days you can’t get words on paper, sit down to write in your allotted time period but get up once your time is up – words won’t appear magically if you sit for longer hours and wait for them to come to you, it will only make you angry or sad which isn’t goodTake a step back and take a break when you feel yourself not wanting to write – when you come back, it’ll be with a fresh mind that’s excited to workWrite daily and it doesn’t have to be related to your book – you could write poems, prose, short stories, essays, blogs, articles, reviews anythingWhen you do write, don’t edit at the same time– it’s a trap that you’ll never escape once you start doing itWrite bad words because as they say, you can always edit a bad chapter, not a blank pageIf you feel lost – know that we all do – writing is a long and lonely journey but don’t let any voice [most often it’ll be your voice] convince you that your art doesn’t matter because it does matterUse Spotify playlists or YouTube sound playlists to set the mood for writingSome people use scented candles too to set the moodKeep a pen and some sticky notes with you to jot down random ideas – or do it on your phoneExtra Tip – keep a plush toy with you so when the devil takes over and convinces you you aren’t good, you can hug it and smileIf you don’t write your story, who else will? Imagine you’re gone and someone finds your draft and reads it only to find it was never finished. You can’t do that to your friends!Write because that story needs to be written, because you and I need to read it because even if it’s cliché, it’s still youThere are so many fast food stalls but we all have a favorite, don’t we? Chances are others might not like it but we do love them nonetheless, don’t we? So love your art because even if there are thousands of books that sound similar to yours, they haven’t been done by
you
, it’s not your voice that’s shining in themIf it’s your first draft, there is no need to follow a chronological order or sequence – write what interests you, write badly but don’t stop writingUse NaNoWriMo or Google Sheets/ MS Excel to keep track of your word countUse the Forest app or deep focus mode on your devices to write without any distractions [once the timer goes off, get up and go on with your day] Use Google Notes/Google Docs for writing so you can access your document from any device – this means you can’t make an excuse for not having access to your documents If you think you suck, then there’s me who thinks I suck too, so we all suck – it’s all about which voice we’ll choose to listen to You are writing for yourself so there’s no right or wrong method/ timeline/ procedure to achieve what you want
If you’re a full-time writer –
take your job seriously, start dressing up comfy or cute to accept that writing IS your job, whether you like it or not make your writing space cute and a no-distraction zone, go to a café or a library when it gets boring and monotonous, keep moving once in a while or whenever it gets dull, but once you shut that device, no more work.
NOW GET TO WRITING THAT STORY!!!
I want to read it and brag about having read it, okay???
