Hi, everyone! L.C. here, and I could use some help.
I think I have most of the pieces in place.
I think I know what I want to happen, I have a general idea of when those things should happen.
The world is built satisfactorily and I believe the stage is mostly set..
But I'm terrified of facing that blank page.
How do you motivate yourself to begin? How do you stay motivated? Am I overthinking this?
I don't know why I'm scared of writing the silly thing, it's been occupying a large portion of my thoughts for so long and I just want to tell the story I want to tell but I'm scared, eeeeeek….
—L.C.
think of what you want the first scene to be, then just put on music, open the doc, and go for it without giving yourself a chance to think too much. remember it's not set in stone if you think it's bad.
Don't be afraid of writing absolute garbage. You can edit garbage, but you can't edit a blank page. If you find yourself completely caught up on the first sentence/chapter, just skip it! Here's my writing process. Hopefully it's helpful:
- The first thing I do is make my characters. I find that it's easier to build a plot/first scene if you have a clear idea of what your characters are like. Make your character profiles.
- Write a scene. I typically write the first scene, but it really doesn't have to be the first scene. Any scene that immerses you fully into the story will do.
- Build off that scene by writing a loose plot diagram. Start with the set up, move on to the inciting incident, then the rising action, then the climax, then the falling action, then the resolution. You don't have to be 100% sure of all the details. Just give yourself a basic guideline.
- Put on some music (tbh violin, video game soundtracks, and piano instrumentals are the best for writing) and start writing! Don't put to much pressure on yourself, but try to write at least a little bit a day.
- If you find yourself completely stuck, move away from your current project and try to write some on-offs! Write a backstory, write a random character interaction, basically write fanfiction for your own idea. It's stress free and allows you to explore sides of your character/universe "unofficially."
Anyway I hope this helped some!
How do you motivate yourself to begin?
I think @"CW-Write Like You're Running Out Of Time" has a good point about not being afraid to write garbage, but especially with my first draft. Your first draft is not going to be good, so instead of focussing on writing the perfect draft just focus on getting your story onto a word document. I'm getting close to finishing my first draft of one of my stories, and I already know that there's certain parts that I'm going to need to edit like crazy.
For me, NaNoWriMo was really helpful in helping me getting started. Having a word count goal to work towards definitely helped me get going on my story and also helped to keep me going.
How do you stay motivated?
Set a goal for yourself. Sometimes that's a word count goal. Sometimes it's "I really can't wait to write this specific scene, but I'm never going to get there if I don't ever work on my story." Sometimes it's "I'm going to finish this chapter by the end of the week."
I also find that outlining my story is also helpful. I don't always stick to it, but it's just easy for me to get distracted when I don't know which direction I want my story to go. Having it all laid out makes it easier for me to stay on track.
Another thing is just to do some character or worldbuilding exercises. I find that drawing my characters or even just filling out pages on this site kind of helps me to stay excited and motivated about my projects.
Am I overthinking this?
Maybe a little :P Just start writing and edit later.
