Writing Tip o' the Day

Often, when I sit down to work on a story, article or novel, I become overwhelmed by the idea of the mental journey ahead. It seems like such a Herculean task (yes, even short stories!) I enjoy being in the middle of writing something. I enjoy being in the middle of the editing/rewriting process. I enjoy receiving what little cash may be involved. But starting out...

So here's what often works for me. First, I tell myself not to worry about it. Second, I just start writing something - anything. Maybe write about one of the characters in the story, or a small tidbit of a scene, or maybe I start writing something completely unrelated - like a journal entry, or a letter to my family, or ideas for other stories and characters. The point is to just get my pen moving across the paper (and I still usually write longhand in a spiral-bound notebook for my first draft - I feel like this gives me more flexibility. Besides, on a laptop, if I'm stuck, it's so much easier to screw around on the web then try to work through my, um, stuckedness.) But as long as my hands moving across the paper and I'm writing something - anything - then eventually I'll get back into whatever it is I was supposed to be working on in the first place.