Getting Started: Part One

Getting started on a writing project of any kind is often the hardest part.

Sometimes it’s because you can’t come up with any ideas, despite really wanting to write.


At other times you have a zillion great ideas but after a page, a paragraph or even one sentence, they fizzle out in to nothing and you lose interest.

For me, it was about self-doubt in my ability not just to write fiction but to finish fiction. I kept thinking about the huge, monstrous, time-consuming enormity of a novel. How on earth was I going to manage it?

Sometimes a check list of questions can be just the thing to give you a creativity kickstart.

1) Where is my story set? Setting can be central to a story or lurking in the background. Will your setting impact on your characters in some way? What time of the year is it? Will your story be set in present, the past or the future?

2) Who are my characters? Give your characters one of those quirky job interviews – ‘if you were an animal, what would you be? What’s your strongest trait? What is your weakness? What’s your star sign? Are you a team player?

3) Now combine what you've learned about setting and characters...What’s happening around your characters? Breathe in; use your senses – what are the smells, sights, sounds and tastes of your scene or story. How do your characters reaact to the setting you've created?

Wrap your head around these three for a starter and see where it takes you...