Writing Process: how to start ANY piece of writing

Want to write more? Sometimes getting started is a real challenge. I was chatting with a young writer today, and asked him whether he’d completed the article he was working on when we last spoke.

“I’ve got lots of ideas, but I just can’t seem to get started…” he said.

Here’s how I responded. (If you’re plagued with procrastination when you write, my response may help you, too.)

Just start! Write a sentence, and then another one.

If you find the first sentence challenging, because it encompasses your tone, as well as the topic, keep writing “first sentences” until you strike a tone which appeals to you.

When I’m procrastinating because a new project, I write five to ten titles/ headlines, and then write ten first sentences.

Once I’ve done that, I grab any sentence which sounds as though it might work, and I keep writing.

Here’s a basic process you can follow to get started:

1. Write a list outline

This is just what it sounds like; a long list of material you think you might want to cover in the article, or in the project.

2. Write five to ten titles, (or headlines, if it’s a copywriting project)

Just write whatever jumps into your mind, no matter how “stupid” it seems to you.

Remember that your creative self lives in your right brain, which isn’t verbal. It’s sending you messages constantly, in emotions and images, below your level of consciousness, which your hapless left brain tries to translate into words. Sometimes you have to wade through several iterations of “stupid” to get to “brilliant.”

I often imagine my right brain and left brain playing a game of charades, with my poor right brain getting very disgusted with the incomprehension of my left brain.

3. Tomorrow is another day: write what you can today — you can worry about it tomorrow

You can only write today, what you actually produce. However — and this is important — if you slack off and don’t write today, you have nothing to work with tomorrow.

Do today’s writing today. You may well think it’s junk. However, just as you need to shift a lot of dirt to get a few diamonds, the junk is part of the creative process.

Try this process. It will help you to write more.

Befuddled by Twitter? You’ll be amazed at how many writers, editors, agents and buyers of your writing use it

Be where the action is with “Twitter for Writers: Achieve Writing Success 25 Words at a Time”, your guide to micro blogging for writers.