It starts with an idea. Perhaps a word. Or an interesting quirk you saw – like that girl who wears a raccoon tail (hopefully fake!) and punk clothes in Animal Science during fourth period. Maybe it’s the world in your dreams – vampire robots… that feed on cellulite? How bizarre! It does not matter where this idea or thought came from or why. The important thing is that you had it. Now, for the biggest step: WRITE IT DOWN! You cannot start anything without taking the first step – putting pen to paper (or is it fingers to keys now?). Who cares if it seems silly, pointless, and yes, even stupid, but we all have our moments. No, what matters is that it tickled your fancy enough to think it. You might not use the idea right away. Heck! You might never use what you wrote down at all. But oh-joy, when you are well into your writing escapades and come upon a mental road block, look through your old notes, journals, or even collection of napkins and find that one little piece of inspiration you need to finish a masterpiece. It makes the struggle all the more satisfying.
For this reason I strongly encourage everyone, not just writers and aspiring writers, to carry a little notebook. You never know when a particularly wicked idea will hit you, and leaving it off until later increases the chance you forgetting or not describing it effectively.
This being my first post, I do not have much else to say. I wanted to keep it short and sweet. A little introduction along with an important tool most published writers use (the Idea Journal… if you forgot already for shame!). Follow, and look forward to more posts. I will be diving into building exciting but believable characters, creating a world for them to interact in, and especially the unique voice of authors. How can you tell J.R.R Tolkien from H.P. Lovecraft? Telling verses Showing? And so much more! I will also take requests, so leave a comment or better yet – email me.
Keep Writing!
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