March 15, 2021
Where Do I Start?
Have you ever wanted to start writing and looked at a blank paper or computer screen and thought, “okay, how do I start?”
*Raises hand and waves it frantically*
Honestly, I just go for it.
Maybe I’ll edit and cut or rewrite the start later. Sometimes what is the start turns into a midsection, gets edited out, becomes a draft outline, or even moved to a later story! In “The Symbol of El Adame” (book in the works!!), the first piece I wrote is buried in the fifth or sixth chapter. In “Web of Deception: Child of Miny’lyra” I wrote over 120 pages of copy that was deleted or squeezed in somewhere as back story. The original start was during an advancement in Ja’hline that doesn’t exist anymore except as a memory in Jordan’s mind (and mine). The first line I wrote for the “Adventures of Long Tail” books became a draft outline that never made it to a book! The first written paragraph for the “Brantley Station Saga” became the beginning of book three (Becky’s begging for the “Pirate Baby Story” changed that).
I will say that every first line of “Five Alive: Stories of the Funny Sisters” books and “The Devonians” books stay the start. I wrote all of the Five Alive stories on the fly remembering a specific event and knew how I wanted it to start. All of the Devonians stories follow a huge overlay outline that plots the start and end dates of each book and the timelines within each for the specific book and the overall story. (Yes, I’m really nerdy about continuity – so much so that I’ve paused this series indefinitely as I lost my “Devonians” folder with all my Devonian maps and building plans when we moved last. When I find it or redo the entire structure of the Devonian world, I will restart on my favorite children’s book series.)
When you can’t think of something to start with, just put your thoughts on the paper.
Don’t stress. You can always change it later. That’s the cool thing about modern technology or writing with a pencil and paper (and eraser). You can just clear it and rewrite, rephrase, or start all over. The control key + backspace is your best friend when drafting emails and texts.
Remember that in today’s world, once you’ve posted a blog or status or tweet, it can’t be undone. There is no “Ctrl-Z” in real life. There is no real deleting of posts, texts, or emails once they’ve been sent.
Still facing that blank screen or paper?
WRITE! Just start. Rewriting is 75% of the writing process. Maybe more. Write. Proof, edit, rewrite, proof again, edit again, rewrite again (repeat until satisfied). In my case it’s “repeat until you run out of time” because I never think my work is good enough. Ever. It can be just this blog post, a children’s book, or a novel. I never am truly satisfied with anything I write.
Hope this blog encourages you to write! Let your story out (or write you school essay)!
Type at you later,
~Nancy Tart