How to get started in writing

I thought it would be a good time to talk about getting started in writing.  Mainly because the novel series I have been writing on and off, for what feels like forever, has changed and so I am starting anew.

I have a massive amount of scenes and plot lines covering several books, however, the first novel always felt a little clunky.  After I went through the ringer a few times, I found the need to make some changes.

In fact, my protagonist became a whole lot darker and while most of the plots and scenes won’t need much changing to reflect this darkness, the first novel needed an overhaul.

So, I can confidently talk about starting… because I am… again.

What to Write

Firstly, I’ve never come across someone who wanted to be a writer but didn’t have anything to write about.

Maybe there are those people out there but as I said, I’ve never met them. Writers are like sponges, we soak up ideas like water.  It might only be a tiny nugget of an idea but it will be there.

So when people say “I don’t know what to write” my guess is they mean “I don’t know how to start.”

I can appreciate this.  I often find the first sentence or the first page of a novel daunting. In fact, they are so daunting I usually do them late on in the novel.

Plan ahead

The best starting point is in the planning.  You should know where your novel is going, what happens at the start, the middle and at the end… there can be some loose bits but the more aware you are the better.

Get this shit down – this is your outline.  This is the roadmap you will use to keep your novel on track.

Creating an outline will identify weaknesses, plot holes and questions that need answering… this is where you should start.

Where to start writing

Now there are many writers who start their novels at the beginning.  Some who have to write chronologically and this is great.  I wish them all the best… this is not me.

Even if I have a very detailed outline for my novel, I rarely write the first page or even the first chapter first.

When I was younger, I found that I would spend waaayyy too much time staring at a blank page trying to get the first line, the first page, the first chapter written.  It got so frustrating I would get nothing written for days.

So I changed my method and instead picked a scene I wanted to write, one that usually let me build on the character. Often I could then follow that scene with the next one in the order and get a nice big chunk done.

Other times I would bounce around like a rabbit on speed, writing different scenes throughout the novel.  Once I had enough of them fleshed out I would go back and start writing up the connecting threads.

Method to the madness

While some writers will recoil in horror at my method, it is what works for me.  The older I got the more likely I was to write a middle scene and then work outwards (both forward and back) until the surrounding scenes and their tie-ins were written.

This then made writing the first chapter easier.  It was like doing a jigsaw, starting it off can be difficult but when you only have a few pieces left, it’s easier to see where they go. That’s how my writing works.

I also found that when I was going through rough times and my writing suffering, this method of writing random scenes was what kept me writing.  If I had needed to follow a strict outline chronologically, I would not have managed it.

Do what works best

There is no right way to start writing.  You just need to do it.  If writing linearly works, do that, if it doesn’t try something else.  If you aren’t sure, try several different methods until you find one that works for you.

Don’t over edit

Make sure you enjoy the writing, this is especially good for new writers – don’t get caught up on editing yet. Don’t re-read and edit the work you’ve just done (believe me that was my weakness and it’s not a great habit to form)

Take this time to just get comfortable, to get your ideas down, your scenes built, your characters fleshed out.  Editing can be done later.