Give yourself permission to write a story.
- Give yourself permission to start with a naked premise. Many of us glory in storytelling details like vibrant settings, pithy bon mots, and complicated relationships. What worked for me was to start with a humble scene, just a situation. Later, you can turn it into an interaction by involving someone or something outside the hero. Develop the characters, the back story, the quirks in due course.
- Give yourself permission not to write the world’s best story your first time outta the gate. Start by writing a proof of concept. Then go on to the great and defining work. Leave perfection to your second or third try, okay?
- Give yourself permission not to write. Several activities can prepare you to write a story when you’re ready.
- Relax. You got this. Every writer is different and all the really incredible ones do things that infuriate English teachers. Your shortcomings can become your strengths. Suffering Asberger’s? Give your hero a hearing problem and we’ll revel in the crazy conversations you write. Not much of a party person? Lock your hero in solitary confinement and show us the world she builds herself. Are you more tactile than verbal? Sabine wrote an amazing book consisting mostly of artsy-craftsy cards and photos with very little prose.
At the end of the day, you’ll have to pick a hero, put him into a tree, throw stuff at him, and tell us how that works out. So let’s get started.