Do you have this one idea for a novel but don't know where to start?
I have been slowly building my writing habits and process over the last 5 years and here's what I have learned!
I want to emphasize that the things that work for me will not work for everyone. Think about what you can take from these tips and adapt them to fit your brain.
Let's get started!
1. Warm up to Write
'Nothing is scarier than the blank page' is something that we have heard again and again as writers. But something that neurodivergent people know more than most is that task switching is hard. When you sit down to write, are you expecting your brain to automatically forget everything you were doing and be present with your story? That is a big ask.
Instead, think of how you can ease into your task. My go to strategy is watching videos relating to writing. While the video is going, I am starting to think about how the advice relates to my WIP. When its over, I already am thinking about what I can do! I recommend watching shorter videos, and setting a limit. Its easy to fall into the research rabbit hole! If you find other videos you want to watch, add them to a playlist to go back and watch later. I enjoy Abbie Emmons videos and she has so many that relate to all facets of story crafting.
2. Take the Pressure Off
Setting achievable writing goals is crucial for staying motivated. You will often see advice about writing every day. And while establishing a routine can help you stay on track, often it makes us lose sight of the actual reason why we write. For me, my head is always swimming with stories. I have to, no, I need to get them out. I love telling stories. I find so much joy when I can capture that image or emotion in my head.
If you put all of this pressure on yourself to finish, finish, finish that book, you can burn yourself out. If you make your brain think that writing is scary or frustrating, it will do everything to avoid it. Hello, writers block! Does that mean you can't have goals? Of course not, but remember that you are telling this story for you first, and there is no rush!
3. Don't Write a Messy Draft, Write a Helpful Draft
Word vomiting onto the page is not helpful for me. Why? Because when I come back to edit, I think 'What's the point?' I don't know how to turn this into the story I want.
There have been so many times when I have put a draft down because I have been so disheartened with what I've written. Of course your story is not going to come out perfect on the first draft (or the second draft, or third, or ever! Perfection is a myth!) However, in my slow process of writing my first draft, I want to make sure I am setting myself up for success by writing something I can build on. Maybe I just describe what is happening. Maybe I write out a snippet of dialogue. As Maggie Stiefvater says in her writing seminars, your drafts are for you.
How can you tell if something is helpful? Keep reading!
4. Write Outside In
I am great at writing emotion. Maybe because I have a lot of them, maybe because I write to convey an emotional truth. I have no problem describing in my stories the internal world of my characters. So if I start with that, I am going to get stuck. Or my characters are going to have deep philosophical monologues in a white room. And who wants to read that?
I have learned through lots of writing exercises and short stories that I do best when I start with the external actions. My Zero Drafts include a lot of dashes and sentence fragments. I am telling myself the story one 'he did this' and 'she did that' at a time. Yes, sometimes feelings are involved (I am a feelings based life form) but briefly. I am setting up a story that is is full of movement. The internal world is informed by an external reality!
5. Use Writing Conventions
3 act structure. Character archetypes. Tropes. These are not bad things! They are commonly used for a reason. They are the foundation that you build from. Once you add your story layers on top of them, you will get a unique story! Once you see how everything works together, then you can add specificity to your characters and their actions. Make the adventurer character with your cousin's dry sense of humor, and the speech pattern of someone you met on the bus. Characters should fit into your story and have natural conflict with the other characters. The story beats of 3 act structure make sure you have momentum in your story and character types give you relationship sketches you can start with.
6. Utilize Writing Tools
Technology has revolutionized the way we write, making the process more organized. Find a tool that fits with how you want to write. Tools like Scrivener or Hemingway Editor streamline your writing and improve your overall writing quality. These tools can help with grammar checks, formatting, and brainstorming ideas. If you need to have all of your research, character profiles and chapters separated into different folders that you can easily jump between, I would recommend Scrivener. My favorite feature is the split screen, where I can put my draft on one side, and my chapter on the other. I also like that there are a lot of places for you to write notes to yourself. One downside is that the program misses a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, so use another tool like Hemingway Editor to catch those.
7. Join Writing Communities
Writing can be a solitary endeavor, but connecting with like-minded individuals can provide valuable support and encouragement. Consider joining online writing communities like the one on this website! Sharing your process with others keeps you accountable and makes you realize that you are not the only one with these struggles.
In Conclusion
How you are going to get your story on the page is going to be a process unique to you. One of the most important things to finishing your project is understanding what works for you, often through trial and error.
Are you ready to embark on your writing adventure? Join in on our Writing Forum! We have a thread called 'Writers Tips' where we can pool our collective knowledge to encourage fellow story tellers.
Happy writing!
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