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I want to write, but where the heck do you start?

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Published: 17Nov2007
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A story can be fictitious or fact, in some cases both. I believe everyone on this planet has a story to tell in some form or another. So many times people say to me, 'I could write a book about my life'. I reply, 'why don't you'. They usually come back with, 'wouldn't know where to start', followed by, 'I don't have the time'.

Okay, lets start with, where to start. I say anywhere! Could be yesterday, last week, last year or five minutes ago. Start anywhere! You can rearrange paragraphs, chapters etc later. Don't stunt your thinking with once upon a time.... Let's say you want to write about your life. You can start with, I'm sitting here without a thought in my head, but five minuets ago, I got a phone call from Joe blogs. Another salesman trying to sell me a mobile phone. Keep going, what happened before that? I was sitting there talking to my friend Betty, before rudely interrupted by the phone. Before that, I was moping the floor. Before that, eating breakfast and my son, daughter, dog, cat, whatever, knocked a pot plant over, messing up my floor. Work backwards if you have to, jump all over the place. Just get your thoughts down, can be 5, 50, 100, 200 pages of just thoughts, then do the rearranging. I call this my first draft. Second, the filling out, third, rearranging, fourth and a thousand times over, proofreading. Some writers would not agree with me on this, everyone is entitled to there opinion. If I'm wrong, why is there such a thing as writers block and the question, where do I start?

Okay, scared to tell people your life history, but want to? Turn it into fiction. Tell your story, giving yourself and others fictitious names, places and settings. Pour your heart out; make readers laugh and cry with you. Don't want dear old mum and dad having a heart attack if they read it, give yourself a pen name. Don't want your girl friend getting her nose out of joint because she does things you aren't game to tell her, make she into a he, the snotty nose two faced snob or the Aunty from hell.

Want to go further; turn your work into a full-blown fictitious novel? Your best mate suddenly becomes the miracle worker, who not only saved your pot plant but your kid, who supposedly fell out of the highchair! The man, who rang you, becomes a stalker. Mobile phone sales were down, the boss was on his back; your refusal of the offer was the last straw. He blames you for being sacked. Add, add, add, use your imagination, it's your life, mix fact with fiction, do what you will with it. Give it a twist; you eventually leave your hubby for the stalker. The stalker teams up with you to get rid of the Aunty from hell. The stalker is really an alien, teaching you a lesson in something. Imagination and fact is wonderful and anything can be done with it.

One thing I always suggest to writers, forget who is going to read it. This will free you up to write what you want and not what you think others are going to like. Remember, you can never please everyone and don't even try to. If you don't love what you're writing with passion, you leave yourself open to beat yourself to death over the slightest criticism.

I personally believe that in every fiction book is part of the author's personality, life, loves, hates, family, acquaintances and all written within the words of a poem, short story and novels.

Haven't got the time? This to me says, I don't want to write, so don't. Better to be honest and say it than to have someone like me trying to convince you to do it. If this is not the case and you really do want to write a story, would it really kill you to dedicate 10 minutes a day to writing one paragraph? Or like some do, jot down a daily note in a diary. Just think; one day you can hand it down to a family member, who might make a million dollars out of it. Take the bible for example; it is a book of letters and private notes. Stones and scrolls exchanged and collected. One day they stuck it all together and whammo, the worlds best selling book. So, there is no reason for people not to write, only if they really, really don't want to be a writer and not everyone wants to. Alas, the reader and the world needs them just as much as writers.

Author Christine Jones http://www.cjbooks.net

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