Six Steps To Get Started
It all begins with an idea.
Six Steps To Get Started
How do busy people find the time to write while keeping up with the rest of their lives?
It isn’t easy. Attempting any creative endeavor while juggling obligations like a full-time job is difficult. Creativity requires time, space, and quiet. Your thoughts need room to roam, unincumbered, unburdened.
While writers in movies often live in idyllic, distraction-free havens, reality rarely offers a Swiss chalet and friendly sheep as writing companions. Most of us can’t quit our jobs or tell our kids to fend for themselves until they’re eighteen so that we can write.
But there are ways for busy people to pursue their love of writing and unleash their creativity. Let's explore a six-step plan to help you fit writing into your jam-packed life.
1. Establish a Schedule: Select a time of day to write.
Consider your schedule and creative flow. Do you feel most inspired in the morning, in the evening, or in the afternoon? If you are a night owl, don’t set a five a.m. alarm to write. Instead, set reminders on a smart device or use a designated planner. This ensures you will remember and stick to it.
2. Allot a Period: Scheduling even 10-20 minutes a day is enough to get started. Commit to spending the entire time you’ve allotted to writing, not planning your weekend or making your grocery list.
Ten to twenty minutes may not seem like enough time to make the effort worthwhile, but you’ll be surprised how much you accomplish.
In twenty minutes, you can brainstorm a character's motivation, revise a scene, craft a key dialogue exchange, or even map out your story's central conflict.
A short writing burst can spark a much larger project, like my experience of turning a ten-minute piece into a 900-word story, an example I’ll share at the end of this post.
3. Pick a Writing Spot: While you don't need to be married to one location, designating a "writing spot" is essential. Developing an association between a location and writing will train your brain to focus more quickly. Ideally, this spot should be quiet with minimal distractions, but some writers can tune out the world once immersed
4. Select a Medium: Pen-and-paper, iPad or laptop? Some writers feel less inhibited when writing with pen and paper. Most writers prefer the flexibility of laptops or tablets. I personally use a laptop with a dual-monitor setup – one screen for my draft and the other for research or reference materials.
Remember that if you select pen and paper, the work will need to be digitized before submission. It's not a big deal, but it's an extra step, nonetheless.
5. Outsmart the Inner Critic: Staring at a blank screen or page is daunting. The most difficult step can be writing the first word. This is when our inner critic jumps in and voices their opinion.
To outsmart my inner critic, I set a timer for 10-20 minutes and write without stopping. This forces me to ignore judgment and write without second-guessing my ideas. Freewriting exercises like this can unlock creativity and help break through writer's block.
6. Pick a Topic: What do I write about? The answer is easy: Anything. It doesn’t have to be a big idea, your next story, or even something you care about.
Tap into your creativity by describing something ordinary: An object on your desk, a recurring dream fragment, the last walk you went on with your dog or even the taste of your morning coffee. These seemingly mundane events can spark surprising inspiration.
If this doesn’t work for you, search the internet for "Writing Prompts" or explore resources like Reedsy.com and Poets & Writers (www.pw.org) for interesting ideas.
Following these six steps will set you up for writing success.
In the next post, we'll explore if an idea will make a good story for you.
Cheers!
***
Writing Example:
I wrote this short bit about pomegranates as part of a ten-minute writing exercise for a class I attended.
We met at the grocery store. She was buying pomegranates. A cart full. Bag after bag. Purplish and red. Bumpy and round.
I hate pomegranates.
I was buying oranges—a sensible fruit.
I went to leave. I’d get my oranges later. Our carts bumped.
She looked at me.
Our eyes met and then deflected.
Pomegranates, I thought again, Why?
Oranges? she said out loud. You only have two. What are you going to do with only two oranges?
I stepped back. I wasn’t expecting a question. I wasn’t ready for the sound.
I—I’ll make orange juice, I managed.
Nice. I like orange juice.
I later rewrote the piece:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uma3amJH6s68Qc_j3HzFLxQkZ9utW42sReAkOIB1uKo/edit?usp=sharing.
It has since been published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, https://lothlorienpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/
Is This Idea Good Enough?
It all begins with an idea.
As the saying goes, ideas are a dime a dozen. We've all been there—sometimes at three a.m., wide awake, staring at the ceiling, sometimes on the way home from work, or even after overhearing a conversation between strangers— you feel that itch, that tingle telling you you’re on to something interesting. But can you be sure? How do you know if your idea is just an idea or if it is the basis of a story?
Before I start writing, I ask myself five questions. Depending on the answers, I write or return to the drawing board. Not being able to answer yes to all five questions doesn’t mean that I scrap my idea; it means I must refine and cultivate my idea's character details and story elements.
1. Goal: Does my protagonist have a clear goal? Is what they want or need well-defined, quantifiable, and measurable? Determining the protagonist's goal is critical because it drives the story. A quantifiable and measurable goal is essential because it will provide a roadmap for plot points. Most importantly, a clear goal allows readers to engage and invest in the story.
2. Conflict: Does my idea include challenges and obstacles the protagonist must overcome to reach their goal? Conflict is the engine that pushes your story forward and keeps your readers turning the pages; writing a story that captures the reader’s attention would be nearly impossible without it.
There are four main types of conflict: human vs. human, human vs. self, human vs. nature, and human vs. society. It is important to note that in writing, conflict and catastrophe are not synonyms. The protagonist’s conflict can be very personal, seemingly insignificant to others. An example of such is the short story The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis (https://electricliterature.com/the-graveless-doll-of-eric-mutis-by-karen-russell/).
3. Round Characters: Is my protagonist interesting enough to carry the story? Does my protagonist have a solid backstory, motivations, and interesting traits? Are they relatable? Likeable? Authentic?
Writing a character study is an effective way to identify what I have and what I need to add to my protagonist’s character. Why take the extra time? Without a well-developed protagonist, you won’t be able to create the buy-in necessary to keep the reader engaged and rooting for your protagonist.
4. Emotional Core: Does my idea have the potential to elicit an emotional reaction from the reader? Again, this is important because the emotional content will keep readers engaged. This ties directly to the development of the protagonist. If the protagonist isn’t round, eliciting an emotional reaction from the reader will be difficult.
5. Potential for Change: If my protagonist overcomes the obstacles and challenges I have outlined for my story, will it change their character? Will they transform? As with Conflict, the change does not have to be extreme—zero to superhero—but a change of some degree is critical. The potential for transformation adds a layer of intrigue to the story. This will keep readers invested in the protagonist's journey.
Remember, a great story often emerges from unexpected twists and turns, even we, as writers, didn’t see coming. A story idea doesn’t have to be big to be impactful. Small stories and personal internal conflicts can be as powerful as apocalyptic tales and stories about world wars. Don't be afraid to experiment and explore different directions with your idea. This is what makes writing fiction exciting and rewarding.
Next Post: I will discuss the submission process. With so many magazines and the possibility of rejection, it can be daunting. I‘ll share some techniques I use to manage the process without becoming overwhelmed.
To that end, if you have time, here are a few magazines I really enjoy—full transparency, some I have work published or work forthcoming, but regardless, I would read them!
Short Story: https://shortstory.substack.com/ They publish great work and have a unique pay structure that benefits the artist.
Hominum: https://www.hominumjournal.org/ If you have time, I highly recommend Henry by Theo Zucker. I loved this story.
The Blood Pudding: http://thebloodpudding.com/fiction/
The Flash Frog: https://flash-frog.com/ Read Tom Walsh’s Last Call, https://flash-frog.com/2024/01/29/last-call-by-tom-walsh/
Blog Post Title Three
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Four
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.