I think there is an author in everyone; Whether you are a deep thinker, or have a vivid imagination just teeming with ideas. If you’re completely new to the writing world, I’ve put together a list to get your writing process started!
- Solitude
- You want to be somewhere that inspires you. Quality time with just you and your thoughts is extremely important to begin writing a story. Take a deep breath, take in the feels of the environment, and key into your inner author. I’ve created so many of my stories just sitting alone on my back porch, especially in the evening time because that’s when I feel most inspired.
- Write On Impulse
- The minute any thought or different feeling enters your mind, write it down. That could be the handy notebook you brought outside just in case, or the notes app on your phone. If you haven’t come up with a certain idea or storyline, but you just have this feeling of inspiration, try writing down and explaining what you are feeling. Most of the time, this actually turns into something completely different than what you may have had in mind when you originally sat down to think. Jot down words, objects, anything to support that feeling.
- Actually Read What You Wrote
- They say to fully understand something, you must first read it with your eyes, and then read it with your voice. Read out loud to yourself everything you have written down. Then, like improv acting, try narrating an improv story or dialogue. Though it may sound odd, this really does work for me. I reread, and reread, until a new line comes to my head. A silly technique I have is reading what I wrote in a British accent, for some reason it makes me feel cultured and elegant.
- BE The Character
- By this point, you have already created this atmosphere of inspiration. You’ve turned a subtle, yet noticeable, feeling into a couple of words or lines on paper. Tap in to who this character is, what they’ve experienced, how it would make them feel if this were to happen, and what possibly they might look like. What I’ve always done with this part of the process is look back to many of the situations in my own life and how I felt in each one, how I behaved, or what I would have said or done knowing what I know now. If you can really key into that moment in your life and how you felt within that moment, it’ll be easy as breathing to put down on paper. Then ask yourself questions like: How would my character react to this? If this happened to me, how would that really make me feel? Etc. Transport your mind and heart into this character.
- Meditate On Your Writing
- After all is said and done, maybe you’ve run out of that inspiration adrenaline. Maybe now that you’ve gotten everything out of your system, you sit back and just stare at your paper unable to continue. Welcome to post-inspiration writer’s block. And that’s perfectly okay, we all go there quite often. What I do is reread again everything, but I break down each sentence and really pronunciate the emotion I’m feeling. I try to go back to the feeling I had while writing it all down, and therefore I transport myself into what I wrote. If you want to be a good author, you have to be able to live and relive in your writing.
If you’ve made it this far, do you feel inspired to begin the process? Be mindful that many authors have different techniques, so if you find that doing this list out of order works best for you, then absolutely by all means continue. Everyone is different, and your writing style can be your own. Although If you want another tip, I suggest paying attention to how different authors write in the books you read. I feel like in my own writing, I’ve taken to some other author’s styles or tendencies to create this mix of styles that come together to create my own. But if you’re totally new to writing, I suggest trying the list in the order I provided just to test out what works for you. Writing is a beautiful thing, and I really hope you enjoy diving into the world of more than just words on paper.
Thanks for reading!