I let potentially amazing story ideas slip away

CA_Griffith · Post by **CA_Griffith** » 24 Oct 2014, 12:28

Don't allow the fear of sitting down to start actually keep you from beginning. No one is going to sit down and write a perfect manuscript. Just start because that is the most difficult part. Once you get into it, you'll love it and look forward to the next time you can get back to it. Believe me, the story will tend to start writing itself before you are finished.

rssllue · Post by **rssllue** » 24 Oct 2014, 13:13

Just keep writing!

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 24 Oct 2014, 13:40

CA_Griffith wrote:Don't allow the fear of sitting down to start actually keep you from beginning. No one is going to sit down and write a perfect manuscript. Just start because that is the most difficult part. Once you get into it, you'll love it and look forward to the next time you can get back to it. Believe me, the story will tend to start writing itself before you are finished.

This is superb help for newbie writers who're stuck with starting. Thanks!

I'll add to this my own special "writer's block" cure (I've never had WB but plenty of others do)...

Don't necessarily start with "Chapter 1: I am born." (ha ha). If you are having problems starting the novel, simply jump forward and write a stand-alone chapter, something that has interested you about your new book. It may be a big fight scene, love scene, whatever. Regardless, it's a chapter (or small group of chapters, a story arc) that has your attention.

Just write those few chapters and don't worry about beginning with chapter 1 and writing sequentially.

Then, this act of actually WRITING a couple chapters will nudge your creativity, and you'll think, "What led up to this big fight scene?" or "What was the immediate aftermath of the fight?" and then, write those chapters.

As you are actually writing, as CA says, the story will start writing itself. And those few chapters will then again nudge you to think about another big plot twist or arc in the overall story that you have in mind. It may be "When the two kings first meet" or it may be "When the aliens land their spacecraft" or whatever. Write those chapters.

And as you continue to write critical "big stuff" major scenes and plot sequences, you'll soon be able to glue all these chapters together into a pretty good sequential set of chapters, and then you're on your way.

I kid you not -- writing chapters out of sequence, just to get started, works as a "cure" for writer's block!