Fiction Writing: Getting Started

You love to read fiction — so much so that you think you might like to try your own hand at writing a book. The problem is inertia. You don’t know where to start. Or even if you should start.

Writing is a time-consuming activity. It is also isolating. It requires untold hours in the company of a single person: yourself. “What about sharing?” you might ask. “Can’t I bounce ideas off my family and/or friends? Won’t they be waiting with bated breath to hear about what’s going to happen next in my story?” This might work for some writers, but it has been my personal experience that with the exception of broad themes and premises, ideas spoken before they are committed to paper often seem shallow and uninteresting to someone else. Are you prepared to have ideas rattling around in your head at all hours of the day or night, always there in the background no matter what else you may be doing? Writing is more than a hobby. It is a true avocation.

Only you can decide if it is for you. I have developed a series of articles that may help you make your decision.

Motives, Ideas and Creativity

A discussion of why people write, how they come up with their ideas, and how they keep the creative juices flowing.

Expectations -- Dreams vs. Reality

Suggestions about how to balance dreams and reality in a way that keeps the writing flame alive.

First Step: The Concept

A road map for arriving at the overarching premise on which you will build your book.

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