: Re: Help/tips for a first time writer? I’m starting to write a fiction novel. A friend of mine works in publishing and she thinks the plot for my book is great but I’m not sure how to start.

@Sent2472441

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Starting from a blank page is always hard.

Read Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg. It's an excellent
book to get you writing.

Writing, you will find, is like any art. Like learning the piano, or learning ballet. If you drown yourself in the technicalities, you will soon become overwhelmed and won't be able to hold all that information in your head anyway. Structure, character development, dialogue, description, theme, imagery, etc. etc. are things that take time to master. Just tie your shoes and stand with flat feet. Open the lid and make noises with the keys. Don't try to write a masterpiece from scratch.

Natalie's advice is beautiful. Go to the stationery store and buy a crappy, cheap notebook. Buy a fast pen that moves across the page as quickly as your thoughts. And just write. Let the words pour out without checking yourself or editing any of them.

Crappy notebooks, as opposed to beautiful hardback tomes, free you to write absolute crap. But out of that dung heap, you can dig for gems. It composts over time (as Natalie puts it) and thoughts become refined.

But if you stare at the blank page waiting for diamonds to spring from your fingertips, you'll never write anything.

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” -- Anne
Lamott.

How to start? Just write! Let yourself go. Have fun. Spill your soul on the page.

Good luck!

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