One of the most common complaints I hear about writing: "I don't know how to start!" Don't worry--you're in good company.
When he was asked what the most frightening thing he'd ever seen was, Ernest Hemingway purportedly said, "A blank sheet of paper.
" So if you have trouble starting, know that you're not alone--and follow some of these steps to get the words working.
Freewriting Freewriting is a great way to get right smack into the middle of things.
Whether you know what you want to write about and don't know how to start, or if you have no idea what to write about at all, freewriting gives you a point of entry.
Give yourself five minutes and a blank sheet of paper--yes, I want you to be old-school for this.
Once you've started the timer, the trick is to keep writing no matter what.
Even if you have nothing to write, write that.
Just riff on whatever comes to mind on your topic: whether it's good, bad, or ugly, get those thoughts out.
At the end of your first five minutes, look through what you wrote.
Usually there will be some nugget of an idea there.
Transcribe it and the other useful notes into your draft, and away you go! Loop writing Sometimes one round of freewriting won't do the trick.
If that's the case, take one idea out of your first freewrite.
Use it as your focus and write about it for another five-minute period.
Out of these two, you'll either have come up with a way to start, or you'll have already started.
If not, repeat the process.
But take a break after your fourth go-around if nothing's coming.
Listing If you're not the write-for-five-minutes type, you really ought to try it.
But listing your ideas is never a bad idea, either.
If you've got a general idea, list the points you think would support it best.
If you have no idea at all, well, start making a list of things you'd like to write about.
Be sure to save that list, even when you're ready to move on to the specific task, for your notions there will save you a step in the future.
Idea Mapping Let's say you're a more visual person.
What do you do? Idea Mapping might be your strategy.
Start with a topic in the middle of a page, and all around it write your brainstorming ideas for five minutes.
It's OK to use single words or two-word phrases during this part.
Once you've got your ideas out, spend a moment drawing lines between the ideas that connect.
Some concepts will connect in two or three ways, which is just fine.
Once you can see the relationships between your points, start tying them together on another page with full sentences.
Just Write When you're having trouble beginning, it's best to let yourself just write.
Nothing will gum up your works more than constant editing and rewriting of that first sentence, so don't let yourself bog down.
You can get to the editing and rewriting when you've got something substantial written down.