Choosing Where To Start

Fuckin’ hell, whoever said being a writer is fun needs to go touch some grass. Writing is irritating and stressful, there are always too many ideas running around inside my head for me to even guess where to start.

Planning and outlining have never really been my thing, I’m more of a professional procrastinator who turns in their assignments minutes before they’re due.

I’ve tried character profiles, story boards, and even Pinterest boards to help me gain an understanding of where I want the story to go. 

None have worked for me, but after some trial and error, I found what does. 

I start with a single scene. 

It doesn’t matter where in the book it is, it could even be just a few lines of dialogue that I know I want to include.

I write down every detail in that scene. What it looks like? Who’s in it? What are they doing, feeling, hearing? Literally everything. I make that scene exactly how I see it play out in my mind.

It’s less intimidating to write a single scene than a whole book.

You Can Always Go Back To It

After that scene is written exactly how I envisioned it, I choose the direction in which I want to expand on it.

What led up to that scene? What caused it to happen? Or How did that scene affect the characters? What comes right after that?

This advice might sound a bit obvious but it allows me more freedom when writing. I’m not forcing myself to write when I’m not inspired. I write in the direction the story takes me, what I’m interested in at that moment.

Which sounds like a bunch of self actualized bullshit but stay with me here.

It’s less of me creating a story and more the story revealing itself to me.

Oh god and it got worse.

The exciting part is that even I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s how I feel when I’m reading a new book, then I remember it’s my book, my writing, and it’s even better.

From there I just continue to write, skipping the parts that slow me down, as to not interrupt the flow.

Most of my documents have notes in parentheses, like (insert cool fight scene here) or (witty comeback), but that’s the beauty about editing, you can always go back to it at a different time when it comes to you.

If, at the time, all you can come up with is the dialogue you want for that scene or where the characters are then that’s okay. Better to write it down and keep writing!

You don’t want to get stuck and then forget what the hell you wanted in the first place. Or worse, force it.

Usually at some point, all the other ideas fall away and the book starts taking shape.

Why It Works

I find this method to be the most effective because it allows me to just relax. My mind is tricked into thinking, “I’m writing a scene, a single page of thought”, instead of, “holy actual shit I have an entire book to write.”

Clearly I work best on delusion. Maybe you do too.

If you ever get stuck or lose focus, you can always go back to that scene and start again. Kind of like retracing your steps when you lose something.

It’s an anchor. A reference point to remind yourself of where you want the book to go.

I think of it as like my kind of setting, even if the scene is placed at the end of the book. It sets everything up. It all originates from that scene.

I recommend highlighting that scene so it’s easy to find when you need it.

And if you’re like me, you’re gonna need to go back to it a lot.

The point is to not stress yourself out with too many expectations. Let the story come alive. Make it exciting and fun to read.

If you’re having a good time creating the story chances are your readers will too.