Please peoples, I need advice on how to start with this whole writing thing. Hopeless amateur talking here. If you could point me in the right direction I would be really grateful, but, you know, I probably wouldn't say it out loud or anything because I'm kind of a dick. And that sounds like a lot of effort.
How to start? I sit my ass in a chair and write something. In fact, that also tends to be how I finish. And how I do everything in between. Not much magic in it, I suppose.
Have something to say about life and come up with an allegory in which to express it. Smoke weed or eat snickers bars or jerk off, whatever gets you into a creative mood. Read literary magazines and blogs and find places to send stories. Write a decent author bio. Read all the craft articles here.
Duh, drugs.
Fuck drugs. You must make WAR. Errum, though you might have to wait a bit.
WAR3, coming to you in...about a year...
A deadline, a word count and prompt. WAR is very motivating!
Have an idea? Write it. Workshop it. Get feedback and learn to refine.
Don't have an idea? Look for one of the prompt threads -- I'm not sure if they're still going during WAR, but Flash Me! and Rough House are two. Thunderdome is another, but you'd have to find a willing participant, and sixty-four of us are in WAR. Links to those threads are in my Introduction thread, which I see was linked in your other thread.
I included another good link, the one to Chuck Palahniuk's essays. Are you a workshop member? You should be. If not, go buy a subscription. I'll wait. Okay, now that you are, go read those essays. At the end of a lot of them, he suggests prompts or exercises for what he's discussed in the essay.
Or Google a prompt. Set your own deadline with a consequence if you don't finish, or even a reward if you do finish.
The only way to start is to, well, start.
Oh, and stick around for the next WAR. I joined right smack-dab in the middle of the original sign up and made the terrible mistake of not signing up. Since you're a little later than I was, you don't have the gut-wrenching agony of knowing you had a chance and missed it, but you'll see dozens (literally) of stories coming every week from dozens (literally) of us.
It kicks your ass into high gear and literally makes you write.
That's another good way to learn to write, by the way: read. Like I said, join the workshop, then read the WAR stories and vote on them next week. You can probably get some good ideas that way, too. Something might inspire you, or, if you're serious about practicing before actually writing anything you'd publish, pick your favorite and re-write it from a different character's point of view. Obviously, you wouldn't show anyone, but you'd get good practice without the agony of coming up with a story (it can literally be agony at times).
You can do that with your favorite books, too.
Keep a low profile in the forum here and just write. It's that simple. No need to complicate things.
Honestly, I jumped in feet first with the Scare Us! challenge over the summer. I won't lie...it was nervewracking, but I'm trying my hand at WAR now and just trying not to overthink it.
The most inspiring thing ever?
This...
http://writetodone.com/2012/05/31/amazing-advice-for-aspiring-writers-by...
"Keep a low profile in the forum here and just write. It's that simple. No need to complicate things."
Couldn't have said it better myself. If you're here to write, then do that and only that. Learn to avoid bullshit arguments disguised as 'intelligent discussions' and you'll be fine.
There's only so many hours in the day in which to write. Make a habit of not wasting your own time.
Make a habit of not wasting your own time.
This is the thing I find most difficult. I get the feeling that if you master this skill everything else in your life gets much easier.
Since cutting my net connection at home I find I have a LOT more time for writing.
Please peoples, I need advice on how to start with this whole writing thing.
Hi, Brett. I'm kind of a dick, too. I'm going to tell you what no one else has, and it's not personal, it's just something to think about. I'm going to ask you some questions. You don't have to answer me, but please ponder them, and answer honestly to yourself.
1. Clearly you are intelligent: you can put together sentences, access the internet, type on a keyboard, and you found a writer's workshop. I'm willing to guess you know how to write, in the most basic sense. If you're at least a high school junior I assume you've taken composition at least once. Since you're literate, you probably read books, right?
So, what does this add up to? Knowledge of mechanics of writing- check. Familiarity with fiction/non-fiction/genre of choice- check. Pen to paper, fingers to keys, stick to sand, and away you go.
2. You mention crippling anxiety. Trust me, were it crippling you wouldn't be here (regulars, that's where I've been the last two weeks). What are you afraid of? The act of writing? Or sharing your writing? I wrote for a long time—my entire life, in fact—before sharing it outside a classroom. So maybe don't share. Maybe you're not ready. Maybe you need to take a community ed or college course first to get your sea legs.
3. This is the big one: WHY do you want to write? Are you being forced? Do we need to call someone? Blink once for no, twice for yes. Writing should, for the most part, be fun. It shouldn't be hard, or anxiety-inducing, especially when you're starting out with no deadlines or expectations. If there is a story living in you, let it out. If there isn't, don't force it. Do you want to write? Really? Here's the dick part: YOU MAY NOT BE A WRITER. Here's the nice part: THAT'S PERFECTLY FINE.
My advice to you, dear BrandonBrett, is don't join the workshop. Not yet. Dabble a bit. Read writers' blogs. Here are three blogs/articles I think would be profoundly helpful to you, by excellent published writers. Best of luck in whatever you pursue, be it writing or hedgehog-juggling.
xo, Emma
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/16/writing-find-the-time-or-dont/
http://litreactor.com/columns/some-practical-writing-advice-from-douglas-coupland
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/07/19/25-ways-to-defeat-the-dreaded-writers-block/
WHAT IF: It's not crippling anxiety AT ALL and A DINGO ate your face?
My advice to you, dear Brandon, is don't join the workshop.
His name is Brett. Unless all that was directed at Brandon, one of our resident published authors. In which case, my bad.
But really, I can't disagree more. Because for $9 you get access to all the craft essays here on the site. And they are pretty amazing, especially for someone just starting out. They will offer you more advice and help than any of us can.
It' not the advice that makes the site special for me, it's the motivation it offers. The chance to have my stuff read by people who (for the most part) know what the hell there taking about I've never felt the charge was there because the site is a commercial enterprise. I feel it fuctions as a dissuasion to the vast majority of people that dont' take writing seriously and would just be wasting our time and their own. I mean try critters, a similar free site and you will instantly see the difference in quality of advice, critiques and most of all, writing.
Litreactor is for people willing to devote the time. Be glad the nominal charge is there. I am.
Barkeep! another shot, I just got paid. ;)
@Avery Oops, I'm awful with names. Not fair, you took that a bit out of context (emphasis added):
...don't join the workshop. Not yet. Dabble a bit. Read writers' blogs.
From his message, it is clear he wants to write but doesn't know how to start. My advice to him was merely to look at what he wants to do. The posts I referred him to (one LR) all talk about how writing shouldn't be intimidating or a chore, and if it is, maybe you're not cut out for writing. Not everyone is; hell, I don't know if I am. And for someone just starting out, who hasn't written and isn't sure they want to, I don't think joining a workshop is a great idea when they're still on the fence. Yes, you get Chuck's essays, but if you're intimidated by writing chances are you're going to be intimidated by those essays. And the workshop is merciless, as it should be. I think starting slow, in an intro comm-ed class or something, might be a better option in his case- for now.
Brett seems like a guy looking for support and advice; not for twenty people to tell him to join the workshop. I love the workshop, but I also recognise it's not for everyone. I was merely offering another opinion.
I know. And I was just giving my two cents as well.
I just took it to say he was overwhelmed by everything out there, not that he was scared of writing in general. I know some aspects of writing (submitting) overwhelms me. And I'm the type that likes information, so I just thought I'd mention what helps me.
Both are valid points, I think. There's some great stuff in here to be sure. But there's also something to be said for not diving in too deep right off the bat, taking it a bit slower and trying to get a better handle on what you want. That said, you could do both. Try the workshop for a month, submit a story, get a little feedback, read some of the craft essays... then go off and decide how serious you really are or what you really want to get out of your writing.
Go that way really fast, and if something gets in your way, turn.
