How to start writing?

I guess the best way to start writing is to write, write and write some more! I think that the more you practise writing the better you will become. I think that another good way to start writing is to keep a private journal. I don't know if you like the sound of this idea but I have been keeping a private journal for years. This isn't going to suddenly turn me into a published author but I enjoy the process of writing and gain a lot of satisfaction from it. If you check out the website www.helium.com you can write and submit articles on this site and I like the fact that your written work receives ratings and others rate your work which can only be a good thing as you can tell whether you are improving or not. I have tried my hand at writing a little fiction on Helium! I must admit that it is difficult at times but I'm trying get the creative juices flowing as it were. I think the private journal is a good starting point for you. You can write about your thoughts and feelings, what you feel about your life, how it's going, your plans and goals! Every piece of writing counts. Anyway, good luck. Andrew

Different people need a different strategy or approach. 1) Free form writing In this practice the aspiring writes whatever word that first comes into the mind. Without forcing the self let the mind and hand go, and write whatever words that come after that. Never mind about the grammar or spelling. The important point is to train the thoughts to flow freely. An example: The word cook comes into my mind as I write this. From here the thought line splits into three, a) How I learn how to cook b) How to cook perfect rice without using a rice cooker. c) I am a better cook than my spouse. The next unrelated word is love. In this case the line splits into more than three, but I shall not list all of them. a) My first love. b) Dealing with unrequited love. c) What love means to me. 2) Writing on what you know Many would-be writers start by writing on topics which they are not familiar with. As a result either the writing is never completed, or the end product is uninteresting to the reader. If you want to write on something new do a thorough research first before writing down the first word. I have seen stories which were unconvincing. As an example arsenic is not a first choice poison in this modern world. 3) Write to an audience When I was a teacher I had students who were eloquent when speaking but faltered when it came to writing down the same thing. This exercise requires some patience. Look somewhere else and imagine at least one person watching you. Start talking about a particular topic, like what you did this summer, and write down the same sentence on paper. Repeat the procedure for each sentence. Use what you have written down as a note for continuing with the next sentence. With constant practice you may find the words flowing in your mind. Best of luck.

A buddy of mine, LeRoy Prince, is a fantastic songwriter in the country music genre. He's not one of those pop appeal guys that gets all the recognition. He's a true artist, in my opinion, and has forgot more about good writing than I'll ever learn. I met him because he lives a few houses down from my parents. I told him that I'm a writer and we were instant friends. Advice he gives me is incredibly useful and has helped me to earn a decent living with only using my keyboard and brain to write. I'll try to paraphrase a few things he told me. A story doesn't need to be explained, only told. What I take from this is that too many people think that fantastic detail between the lines and drawn out prose is how to paint a picture. Of course, you need more than an outline. But I think it boils down to the effort you're putting in as the writer. A good story tells itself, whereas anything less is forced and sloppy and turns a day-long blank page into word after word of useless filler. Novels are for novelists. You can summarize most of what you want to write about it and generalize it. This is great for things like articles and short stories. Focus on writing one point at a time. Working up a proper outline may be good, and it's certainly how writing is "taught" to some people for business writing and the like, but focus on exploring your creativity before you focus on making things run like a well-oiled machine. There's no such thing as a fiction writer. You have to write about things you know about, or at least things you have an idea or a feeling about. Even the most fictional story isn't really "made up." It's in a person; they know about it already. They're just putting their thoughts to paper and making them coherent and interesting enough to read. Start writing about how you're having trouble writing. Try writing a short chapter about a person not being able to find the right words, and then explore how he or she conquers this. GL

Here in myLot you could practice that. But if you really want to have a good material for presentation then start researching in the web or better yet buy books about Writing for Dummies so you could get some ideas.