: Re: What should step one in writing a novel be? I have had an interest in writing for years, but I don't know where to start or how to organize the process of "becoming a writer." I have

@Gail2416123

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My suggestions are:

The fear of being a failure isn't your enemy. It is your friend. It prevents you from sending the first thing you wrote after some glasses of whiskey to agents and to burn your name forever. This feeling won't go away. I'm a published writer and journalist and I still feel like a failure most of the time. Writing is hard. Writing is a learning process and you will constantly evolve. Most writers cringe after reading something they wrote half a year ago - and they thought it was a great piece of writing at that time - because they did grow the last six month and now they are much better than their past self. This usually happens to me. Work through that fear by working on your craft. Get a better writer and this is only accomplished by writing. A lot.
Find out if you are a plotter or a pantser. A plotter plans a story from start to finish and then fills in the words to let this rough skeleton of a story come alive. A pantser discovers the way the story will take while writing. Most people can only work one way or another. To find out what you are will take some time and a lot of writing.
Write daily. Or rather, work daily on being a writer. That means reading (a lot), reading about writing (not too much), connecting with other writers, brainstorming, researching, getting to know your characters, your setting, your plot. Not everything you will write will go into the story. Much of it will be just an exercise or background you need to write the story. For example let your main character write letters to his mom during a summer-camp at 16. This way you will know him or her by heart.
Enter a critique group. Search for a group that will give you honest critique without going to easy on you. And without being mean, either.
Maybe have a look at virtualwritersinc.com/current-events/. There are three timeslots every (work)day where you can find writers in Second Life who sit together to write for two half hours with a short break in between. This might help you to start actually writing.

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