To scared to write?

[Papa.Mark]

Ok, so I've got a few ideas for a Fantasy novel I'd like to start writing.

When I say ideas, they're very rough ideas, not much of a plot and certainly nothing noted down which could be called a story.

How does everyone go about starting to write a new book, in your experience what is the best way?

I've written a few random pages, mainly with a couple of characters in dialogue and a few scenic descriptions but it's jumbled up and as I have no set idea for a plot and such, it seems pointless. I even wrote a couple of pages with a character having a rather one sided conversation with a rabbit.

I feel, I'm perhaps scared to actually start writing properly and commit myself to it, scared of failure, poor story or writing skill. I actually get nervous when I stare at the blank screen.

This is my biggest stumbling block I think, not including the lack of plot, right enough.

So yeah, has anyone got any advice?

Sorry if this has been asked before (I'm sure it has, now that I think about it) or if it's in the wrong forum section.

[Sage]

Sometimes you just have to sit down and start writing. For some people, lack of plot when they start is perfectly fine. They let the characters discover the plot with them. I prefer to have something of a plot when I start, and some people like to outline the whole thing. Try a few different ways and see what works best for you. But since you feel stuck for a plot, I'd try just sitting down and writing and seeing if it works. It's okay if the beginning you start with doesn't end up being the right beginning because you can always fix it in edits. Good luck :D

[Libbie]

What are you afraid of? Nobody is going to come and beat you with a stick if you suck. And if you do suck, you can always revise it later and make it fantastic.

It's okay for you to not be brilliant, especially the first time around. Drop the fear. Start with one sentence. Then write another. :)

If you don't like to go by the seat of your pants, try writing down a series of "what-if" questions. What if there was a girl who lived inside a hollow hill? Why does she live there? What if she was imprisoned there by a sorcerer to pay for something evil the girl's mother did? What did her mother do? What if her mother stole some magic from the sorcerer and hid it in the girl's soul, but the girl doesn't know about that yet? How can she find out about it? What if she is allowed to come out of the hollow hill on every new moon, and this time she meets a normal girl who looks just like she does, and who knows some great stories about the sorcerers who used to live in these parts? ...etc. That's one way to start building a plot.

[TheIT]

There's no best way which will work for everyone. You'll have to find what works for you. Some people outline a complete story before beginning, some people start with a couple of characters and just go. Experiment. See what feels right.

For me, I started with two characters and an inciting incident, and ended up building a world. Nine years later after lots of detours I've got two novel first drafts, three partials, and several short stories all set in the same universe.

That said, some basics:

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's really hard to learn anything and look good at the same time. You are under no obligation to show anybody anything you've written until you're ready to do so.

The first words you write won't be the last words. First comes writing, then comes editing. Separate phases. Can't edit what you haven't written, shouldn't edit while writing or you'll paralyze yourself. If you're aiming for a novel, you're preparing for a marathon, not a sprint.

If you haven't found it yet, take a look at the "Learn Writing with Uncle Jim" thread in the Novels forum. Lots of great information there including a link to the "Permission to write dreck" certificate. BIC = Butt In Chair.

Are you new to writing? Rather than starting with the novel, play with some short pieces. What genre are you interested in? Several of the Share Your Work forums here have monthly or weekly challenges with prompts. Again, if you're not ready for feedback, don't post, but try to write the challenge.

Or for the "go for it" approach, NaNoWriMo is coming up in November. That's a great way to learn to just write and not worry about what's ending up on the paper.

Good luck!

[The Lonely One]

Ok, so I've got a few ideas for a Fantasy novel I'd like to start writing.

When I say ideas, they're very rough ideas, not much of a plot and certainly nothing noted down which could be called a story.

How does everyone go about starting to write a new book, in your experience what is the best way?

I've written a few random pages, mainly with a couple of characters in dialogue and a few scenic descriptions but it's jumbled up and as I have no set idea for a plot and such, it seems pointless. I even wrote a couple of pages with a character having a rather one sided conversation with a rabbit.

I feel, I'm perhaps scared to actually start writing properly and commit myself to it, scared of failure, poor story or writing skill. I actually get nervous when I stare at the blank screen.

This is my biggest stumbling block I think, not including the lack of plot, right enough.

So yeah, has anyone got any advice?

Sorry if this has been asked before (I'm sure it has, now that I think about it) or if it's in the wrong forum section.

Well I've said this before but, character leads to desire, desire leads to specific obstacles, which lead back to character.

I think the key word is character.

[Papa.Mark]

Thanks for all the replies, it does make sense that one shouldn't be scared to write, as it would be upto me if anyone were to read it. Good point that.



Are you new to writing? Rather than starting with the novel, play with some short pieces. What genre are you interested in? Several of the Share Your Work forums here have monthly or weekly challenges with prompts. Again, if you're not ready for feedback, don't post, but try to write the challenge.


Yep, I'm new to writing. My preferred genre is Fantasy but I'm intending to write a comedic/fantasy novel, similar I suppose to Pratchett.

I'll check out them challenges, cheers!

[Wayne K]

Maybe the fear is of fiding out that you aren't a good writer. That's a legitimate fear, all writers have that. I've spent my whole life regretting the things I was afraid to try, and never found out if I was any good or not.

[TheIT]

Thanks for all the replies, it does make sense that one shouldn't be scared to write, as it would be upto me if anyone were to read it. Good point that.



Yep, I'm new to writing. My preferred genre is Fantasy but I'm intending to write a comedic/fantasy novel, similar I suppose to Pratchett.

I'll check out them challenges, cheers!

It's all right to be scared. I was. Still am, sometimes. Just don't let being scared stop you. :)

The SF/F SYW forum has a monthly challenge. Current thread is stickied to the top of the forum. I've been using the challenges to develop back histories of some of my characters. Great practice.

[RedScylla]

What you describe is exactly how all my stories start: some dialog, some scenes, a few characters, all in this jumbled up mess. Usually, I keep writing until I have tens of thousands of words of jumbled up mess, and then I start going back through and organize it into a novel. It's not the neatest system, but it does keep me from getting overwhelmed by the size of my story early on. Instead, I'm just writing one scene at a time.

[Papa.Mark]

It's all right to be scared. I was. Still am, sometimes. Just don't let being scared stop you. :)

The SF/F SYW forum has a monthly challenge. Current thread is stickied to the top of the forum. I've been using the challenges to develop back histories of some of my characters. Great practice.

Thank you!

That's a great idea using the challenges to develop character history, I'm sure doing that would also enable me to get into my characters mindset better.

What you describe is exactly how all my stories start: some dialog, some scenes, a few characters, all in this jumbled up mess. Usually, I keep writing until I have tens of thousands of words of jumbled up mess, and then I start going back through and organize it into a novel. It's not the neatest system, but it does keep me from getting overwhelmed by the size of my story early on. Instead, I'm just writing one scene at a time.

Ah, this makes me happy, now I don't feel half as bad, thinking I'm going about things in the wrong way or even a pointless way. Thank you!

[BriMaresh]

Sometimes, when I'm having a hard time going, I think of one scene that I want to write--something shiny and cool and possibly all fluff, but fun and using the main character. And then I just try and figure out how she could get there. I guess having something to write TO makes it easier for me. Maybe it'll work for you, too.

[Sevilla]

I had the same problem as you, and it lasted for FOUR YEARS. I had this one story I wanted to write, and I couldn't force myself to begin. Then, one day, I wanted to. *shrug*

The first thing I did (telling myself the whole time that it wasn't writing, it was simply a non-threatening exercise) was to write scene descriptions on index cards. Then lay them out on the floor in order. Then pick a card. Then type a bigger description of that scene. ...etc. It works its way up to actual writing. And once you get going, it's not so scary anymore.

[Sage]

A lot of my novels were ones I gave up on after starting, especially the earlier ones. 200-1000 words in and I was just like, "I can't write this." Sometimes it was because I decided I sucked as a writer, or the novel was out of my league, or I just wasn't into it. But I came back to them after a break and those became some of my favorite ones I've finished. NaNoWriMo really helped me with that because I didn't have time to doubt those novels anymore.

[Ruv Draba]

Ok, so I've got a few ideas for a Fantasy novel I'd like to start writing. [...]

I feel, I'm perhaps scared to actually start writing properly and commit myself to it, scared of failure, poor story or writing skill. I actually get nervous when I stare at the blank screen.

This is my biggest stumbling block I think, not including the lack of plot, right enough.

So yeah, has anyone got any advice?Yes, don't write your fantasy novel. Instead, write something else. Anything else. In fact many something elses. Short things of no more than a few thousand words. A few reasons:

You'll be less attached to them so you'll be less worried
Even if they're crap, they're small crap and easily replaced with the next one
You'll learn lots of valuable lessons from finishing small things
It'll build your confidence
Nothing will provoke you more than not writing the thing you want to write. So you'll end up thinking about it a lot, and building up fragments of story, scenes and so on...
If you submit your short stuff to SYW you'll get critiques which will help you learn -- and you won't mind as much because it's not the thing you actually wanted to write. :)
You'll meet folk who can help you later on.
Also as a suggestion write things other than fantasy as well as writing fantasy. In fact, try just writing scenes between ordinary people. If you can make those interesting, your fantasy will fly.

Hope that helps.

[BigWords]

Do you know the characters from the story well enough to place them in unfamiliar surroundings to see what they will do? Try writing a short story, it doesn't have to even be a fully-realized start-middle-end story, even a scene will do... Once you have started writing the characters, they should be easier to write in a longer form such as a novel.

[Stlight]

You might be more comfortable writing your first draft or getting started on paper. Yep, pen and paper, or pencil and paper. No big computer eye starting at you. If the whole page of paper is too big, fold it in half. It's easer to fill up.

Lots of books began this way.

I also find that BriMaresh's way is a huge help. Sometimes I'm writing from the middle, once I had to write toward the climax with no clue who the people were, or how they got there.

[Mumut]

I write a bit and have days off doing other writing-realted work. In that time other ideas come and eventually consolidate. It's like swimming through a fog then you start to see shapes that become clearer as the fog lifts. Quite an experiance, really. And enjoyable. Don't try so hard you lose the enjoyment.

[sommemi]

I love RUv's advice!!!

I was going to say... I have the same problem. I have a great idea for a book, but am kind of scared so I haven't really sat down and forced myself to finish it. I had a genius moment one day, wrote the introduction/premise for it, then.... trailed off after that. BUT, one thing I'm proud to say is that when I get a good idea for some kind of setting or I find a neat little anecdote or pic or something that reminds me of my book idea, I add it in to a table of contents page that I set up. Occasionally I go back and edit the contents according to how I see the story line going. I haven't gotten to more specifics, but have little notes and stuff that I scanned in and added as pics in the story to use as prompts later.

The book I'm actually almost done with consists of a HUGE file that started out as just half pages of papers that I printed out and put in a manilla folder until the folder started looking messy enough that I said "I should probably make a real file and type this in just so it's in some kind of order... oh what the heck. I'll put a table of contents in here too..." and once I got the table of contents, I just started "proofing" and went overboard on the proofing until it became humongous...

I think you have to start out with the intention of NOT finishing it to get yourself into a groove. Once you get rid of the expectation to finish it, it kinda catches on... then once you get to a point where you have over half of it there (no matter what order), THEN you can start forcing yourself to expect to finish it. That's the only way to get rid of the fear, ya know?

[MGraybosch]

I feel, I'm perhaps scared to actually start writing properly and commit myself to it, scared of failure, poor story or writing skill. I actually get nervous when I stare at the blank screen.

I'd suggest starting with the Litany Against Fear. Fear is the mind-killer, remember? :)

Gratuitous Dune allusions aside, what is there to be afraid of? Why do you care if you fail? Why are you worried that you're not a skilled writer or that your story is going to stink? Why not just accept that you are going to fail, that you're not a skilled writer yet, and that your story will stink at first. This is to be expected if you're a beginner.

I first started writing when I was 18 and in college. The first story I wrote was about a long-haired metalhead who found a black crystal sword in a trashcan and used it to put the forces of Heaven and Hell to death just because they decided to start Armageddon on the day he was going to take his girlfriend to see Iron Maiden. It was utter crap. The main character was a Mary Sue, I gave no thought to the characters' motivations, and the prose was such a deep shade of purple that it was playing "Smoke on the Water".

Yes, I failed. I had failed so miserably that to this day, I still haven't dared to show my wife the first story I ever wrote. But I kept at it. I kept the concept of a weapon that could strike down gods and angels and started thinking about why such a weapon would exist, and what would be the price of using such an absurdly powerful artifact, given that power corrupts and absolute power is even more fun? I kept writing one version of Starbreaker after another, and it wasn't until May of this year that I finally had a novel-length first draft with which I was mostly satisfied.

Don't be afraid of failing. You have to fail, and learn from your failures, before you can succeed.

[Darzian]

If you find it too difficult to organize anything, you might want to consider writing an outline. It doesn't work for everyone but I find that it helps me when I have a rough idea of the overall story arc.

[rs11]

Hemingway's famous statement is that "all first drafts are sh-t." It's funny how no one seems to believe him.

[Papa.Mark]

Cheers all, everyone has giving great advice and pointers!

I'm much more confident now, after reading through the replies, failing doesn't bother me so much, as one kind poster said "you have to fail, and learn from your failures, before you can succeed".

So thanks again and will be hoping for some critique when I post some writing up :D

[Use Her Name]

I had a friend who'd published about 5 books who said that writing was a "messy business." After writing a lot myself, I believe it is true. I think if I had a good idea, I would sit down and dream up story possibilities and just start experimenting until I came up with the one that worked. The WIP I am writing now actually went through 2 other story possibilities (and a lot of written pages) till I finally decided on the present form. It may yet, as a I contemplate changing the entire location and also the occupations of 2 of the main characters. -- I am about 50K words from the end of the first iteration.

[Carmy]

Don't be scared. Nothing is carved in stone and no one will see it until you're happy with it and show them.

Trust your characters. If they trust you, they'll often help you along.

Go for it. The mere fact that you're scared means you're serious about writing well. Far too many writers are not.

[RodS]

For me, I have the entire story in my head. Sometimes I'm scared to write, too, because if I do, it won't come out the way I imagine it. Everyone imagine things different, so I think to myself, who cares...it's my story, I'll write it the way I want to, and if people start debating on whether a scene or characters is protrayed differently to them, in one of my interviews after my book is published (hopefully?), I'll tell them how wrong they are. Ha!

[backslashbaby]

I totally agree with Ruv.

Write shorter things first. Play around a bit. And don't be afraid to write crap. It's fine... you're just playing around.

Oh, and read a lot. Look at what the author was doing and how.

I don't mean don't take it seriously; just don't take it so seriously that you scare yourself. Experimentation is crucial, imho.

[Cella]

I didn't have time to completely read all the posts so forgive me if I've repeated anyone; the mantra that's kept me going (on my thried unpublished ms) is "It doesn't have to be good. It just has to be finished!"It's not like you only get one chance to get it right :)

another mantra that helps me: Don't be afraid of what your mind conceives... --Muse

[bonitakale]

Yes, don't write your fantasy novel. Instead, write something else. Anything else. In fact many something elses. Short things of no more than a few thousand words.


Just want to say thanks. I am another frightened person -- in fact, I had to force myself to read this thread. I love re-writing and editing, but first drafts scare me to death.

[NeuroFizz]

The best way to be a flawless writer is to never commit a single word to paper (or screen).

[emilycross]

I have the same problem = paralysis through analysis as i like to think of it! Sage, Libbie's and TheIT's posts are excellent and i feel like copy and pasting them and sticking it over my laptop when i start to think of outlining.

One of the most important things i needed to learn is that writers write differently!! Sounds pretty obvious i know, but with all those 'how to' books and advice etc. sometimes what suits you gets viewed as 'wrong'.

There is no right/wrong way of doing things. i spent so much time trying to do it the ''right'' way that i stiffled myself and ended up not writing at all cause i felt i 'didn't know' my book enough to begin it!! So the advice of this thread is dead on, some of us start with nothing and others start with everything - both ways are fine, it depends on what suits you.

The Second most important thing is - you're allowed to make mistakes! (i still trying to learn this one).

So take it from someone in exact same position, i'm planning on staring at the white screen tomorrow till i've at least a sentence, hope you join me ;)

[togetpublished]

I used to just start writing, but found I never finished anything. Then I broke out a notebook and started to put down what I wanted. New ideas popped into my head. I used the notebook to work out areas of the story that wouldn't let me write them. There was a problem. Writing about the issue usually resolved it. Lots of stewing before the actual typing and the THE END part. You can also pick your best scene. Write it, it might inspire you to finish.

[Pearl]

There's a book I often to refer to when I become afraid to write. "The Courage to Write," by Ralph Keyes. It's all about how a writer can overcome their fears.

Basically, he says even the greatest of writers feel anxiety when working. The one way to overcome that fear is simply by writing. Just write, he says.

[Doctor Shifty]

One of the things that can block us is the thought that 'other writers' have everything nicely in order in their mind from the beginning and they start a major novel one day and go home at 5pm and the next day the same until it's finished.

The reality is that nobody lives out this fantasy. Everybody struggles. What achievement is there if an athlete wins an event without doing the work?

My own stories start from all over. Sometimes the plot is in my head, sometimes I hear a phrase and like it as a title and go from there, sometimes I want to write about a certain character type, other times a certain theme. There is no formula for a starting point.

But what I do have is many many many starts that went nowhere. Or got halfway and I got weary of it, or got side-tracked or decided to change genre, or lost interest, or something else.

If you have emerging ideas, just write them down. The do some 'what if...' on them.

And have fun doing it.

[Aschenbach]

One of the things that can block us is the thought that 'other writers' have everything nicely in order in their mind from the beginning and they start a major novel one day and go home at 5pm and the next day the same until it's finished.

The reality is that nobody lives out this fantasy. Everybody struggles.

So very true, and it's nice to be reminded of this. I have been tearing my hair out recently with edits on my novel. Getting really frustrated and almost hating it at times. In weak moments I have thought "a decent writer would sail through this, why do I find it so hard, must be because i have no talent."

Which may yet be true, but I will keep going and reserve judgement til the end of the edit.

[cptwentworth]

You don't have to write for anyone else to see. Just to get your thoughts down, and then rearrange them and delete them and add to them and play with them. After a while, something you've been toying with might start to make sense. This works best with the loosey-goosey type who can't stand outlines.

[Symonn]

I would just like to thank all of you for your advice. I stumbled upon this thread while doing everything I could to avoid writing. I suppose I don't have to explain that I was doing so for many of the same reasons you've all mentioned; fear that I'm going to write badly, that people won't like my work, that I don't have an original thought in my head.

After reading this thread, I decided to make a simple wallpaper for my computer which reads "You don't have to be brilliant. You just have to WRITE! Revision can make any story shine..." After dozens if not hundreds of first pages, synopses, and fragments, it is my hope that this mantra will lead to my first completed writing project. At least, the first piece of fiction longer than say 300 words. ;)

So far, it seems to be helping already. I just sat down and wrote 900+ words detailing the opening scene of a story I've been wanting to write for some time now, along with a nearly full outline of the plot. The funny thing is, I didn't even set out to write this story just now. It sort of leapt out of me, once I decided that it was allowed to. With any luck, tomorrow I'll write another 900 words... or more. And the day after that... And...

Thanks again.