When I first started writing, as a teenager, I remember going through a lot of times when I wanted to write ... but I didn't know what.
A short story? About what? A novel? Maybe, but that would take so long. A script for a play? There were plenty of possibilities, but I wasn't sure what to settle on ... let alone how to actually begin.
Maybe you're at a point where you're happily working on a big project or a series of projects, and you know exactly what you're doing. If so, that's wonderful – keep at it!
If that doesn't sound like you, though, maybe you're at a bit of a crossroads: you could go one way (freelancing?) or another (creative writing?)
Or perhaps you haven't really made a start yet: there are several possible paths ahead and you don't know where to begin. Maybe even finding a path is a struggle right now.
I'm going to have a new resource coming out next week that I hope you'll find helpful and encouraging as you explore the possibilities ahead of you (so keep an eye out for that email)! In the meantime, though, I want to share three crucial tips:
#1: Don't worry about getting it "right"
Most writers explore several different avenues, perhaps trying and discarding some before finding success in an unexpected place. Others are hybrid writers, working in several different mediums: plenty of freelancers have a novel on the go as well, for instance.
#2: Give yourself permission to explore
When time is short (and it always is in the Luke household!) then it can be very difficult to give yourself permission to simply have fun with your writing. But one of the joys of writing is learning new things, and trying out different genres and approaches.
Perhaps you want to try your hand at freelancing, or you want to have a go at writing a poem, or you'd like to start a blog. Give it a try! It might be an interesting experiment that ultimately helps you decide this type of writing is not for you ... or it could be the beginning of a whole new hobby or even career. However it works out, it's worth doing.
#3: Create a starting point
It can be tricky to figure out where to get started. Do you begin at the beginning? Do you go for the easiest part ... or the bit you're looking forward to most?
It's fine to just jump in and make a starting point. Talk to any successful writer, and you'll probably find they didn't follow a nice neat A-Z path: they tried things that didn't pan out, or they began from an unlikely place.
If you're feeling stuck with your writing, or if you're struggling to begin, take fifteen minutes this week to play around with words ... and see where you end up.
