Getting Started

A lot of would be writers want to start a book, feel they have the ability to start and complete a whole manuscript, but never start. Why? Many of them feel they don’t have the talent, or they can’t make words say what they want to, or they are having trouble thinking of a plot.

The only way to get better at writing is to write. Thinking that you’re not good enough, without ever trying, already sets you up to fail. Does that mean that everyone can become a writer? In my opinion, yes. However, to prove it to yourself, you have to pick up the pen, or get your fingers on the keyboard, and start typing.

Set a word goal, so when you start you won’t stop. I’ve found at least 1,000 a day is good. Others say 500 or 2,000, but whatever you can do, do it. Now, setting a goal, you may think, limits what you can write or forces you to go longer than you can. Quite the opposite.

By setting this goal, you not only push yourself to keep writing those words, but you push yourself day after day. When you reach your goal, especially in a consistent fashion, there is a sense of pride. You finally feel like a real writer.

Also make sure that you are in a quiet place, away from distraction, and you keep yourself there until the words are finished. Tell your family or friends that you are at work now, you don’t know when it will be finished, but you cannot be disturbed.

If you have the fortitude to continue going, to push away the self doubt and keep the ideas coming, and to reach your word goal day after day, you will find yourself with a full length novel in no time.

Next post will be about going back and editing what you last wrote, and how terrible it is for your writing.