A guide you don't have to follow: How to start writing

The other day a friend of mine and I talked about writing and poetry and at some point she asked me how I started writing.
In the moment I gave the generic "Oh I had to write a short story in primary school and then couldn't stop writing stories since then."
But the question still stuck with me. How did I start writing (and I mean writing with the purpose of writing and creating stories and not because of a school assignment) and how would I start writing today?
What would I tell someone who asked me how they could start writing?

So, welcome fellow reader, to this next part of my "A guide you don't have to follow" on How to start writing.
I'll try to do this as a list and give actual tips, but at the core of this question is always one way to start writing and that is to just write. It doesn't matter if it is on a napkin in a café or if it is done on a typewriter. As long as you get words out and they are not just your grocery list, I would say, you did it.
Also, congratulations on giving it a try. Deciding to do something new is exciting and can be scary and I'm proud of you that you decided to take the step into the right direction of becoming a writer.

0. Don't worry about how "good" or "bad" your writing will be.
When you first start out with a new hobby, you probably won't be great. I'm sorry, if I'm bursting a bubble here, but I like to be honest. There is no use in thinking you will immediately write that bestseller when you have never written a story in your life. It discourages you, if you set your expectations too high and that's not what we want. Start writing with the expectation of getting words on the page. That is as much and as little as you have to do right now.

1. Set aside time to write every day
My first tip probably is something that you will always be able to follow no matter how big of a writer you are, because daily practice is still the best way to improve and get used to your tools as a writer. This time frame can be as little as 10 minutes or as long as 3 hours, just try to find some way to get comfortable with the idea to write regularly.

2. Using writing prompts
You won't always be able to get that great idea for a novel right away and sometimes you might have a great idea but it just doesn't want to flow and that's where I love to utilise writing prompts. You can find them on Pinterest or Instagram and they are generally little bits of dialogue or a story blurb that you can then continue, work with or use as inspiration for a story. Sometimes I like to start by copying a prompt and then continue with whatever comes into my head. It might turn into a scene in one of my novels or it might turn into a one page short story that I won't even bother editing because it is so "bad" but at least I started writing for the day.

3. Start somewhere

I am a big fan of using journaling as a tool for my writing. I used to even keep a separate notebook as a journal where I would write down my thoughts before even opening my manuscript. The simple act of writing and getting my brain to start working on forming sentences is usually enough to get a little more in the mood. And as someone who uses their own experiences it is helpful to get a more clear idea what I'm currently dealing with and how I could work that into my story. 

So as a part of your daily routine, try to start with a sheet of paper and write down what you are thinking about. It might be connected to writing, maybe you have a goal you would like to achieve or it might be about something entirely different, something that your mind is occupied with and that would block you while writing. So the goal here is to clear your mind and help you focus more on what lies ahead and don't worry, you can throw away whatever you journaled about. 

Also, if you want, I could make a post about journaling prompts and questions to get you started with. 

4. Read, Read, Read

Whether it is in a genre you want to write and find inspiration or the opposite of what you want to write and you use it to make sure you are not doing any of the things you dislike. 

Reading is great to keep in touch with the idea of creating stories out of nothing, with using words to tell someone a story that will keep them hooked. 

Also, I like to tell people to keep writing because it makes certain advice sound less silly. Like the whole: "You can't write about stuff you haven't experienced." Honestly, if that were true I would hope for a lot less horror and crime fiction. In my opinion, if something is well researched and well layed out, you can write about whatever the hell you want. So read all the books you can find, look for inspiration, for your own do's and don't's and...

5. ...Don't get intimidated

With this we tie back to the beginning and the whole issue about discouraging new writers. I think I could write an entire post on that but if we are honest, we can all be glad if I manage to bring my what I read in.. posts out in a somewhat reasonable amount of time. 

If you first get started, try to stay away from specific advise videos. It can be soul crushing if you only started writing and then you hear all these people with lots of experience tell you that you should never ever use a certain trope or too many adverbs. This is advise for people who want to make writing a business, who want to sell their novels to publishers and not for someone who is trying to write that first chapter of a story. 

In the words of Terry Pratchett: The first draft is to tell yourself the story. 

You don't have to care about the amount of adverbs or how many weird stereotypes you have in your story. That's what you'll worry about when you edit. (Or you do it like me and just write and don't ever go back to edit anything because you hate editing and don't really plan on publishing any of your writing any time soon)

You don't have to show your writing to anyone. This is for you and for you alone. Enjoy the process, make as many mistakes as you want, just write. And if you ever feel like revising, editing and other steps that come after writing your first draft, then you can turn to those amazing, experienced youtubers and authors that will tell you what you need to improve. 

Until then simply write. 

I tried my best to make this a proper post but I have no idea how helpful this advise actually is, so if you have anything to add or you want to share your own experience, then please let me know. 

This is not really supposed to give you a step by step guide, but more a guide on what to look out for when you first start writing. (Which could be my way of making excuses so I can ramble on and on, but we are just going to pretend it is because you can't actually make a step by step guide on writing.)

If you have any questions, contact me, the details are down below, and other than that, I'm done for now.
As always,
Take care and write (on),
Lena


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