Got a story to tell? Then write it!

Here’s my New Year’s hope for everybody who’s ever dreamed of writing a book, wondered if they actually can write a book or, perhaps, started writing one and now somewhere a half-finished manuscript is collecting dust in drawer.

To borrow from Nike: Just do it!

To borrow from Larry The Cable Guy: Git her done!

In other words, stop dreaming, stop wondering and … start writing. You’ve heard it a million times: a writer must write. So to become a writer, you’ve got to find the inspiration, the motivation, the energy and the passion — and yes, make the time — to get your story on paper. And you can only do that by sitting down in front of your computer, opening up a blank document and start typing.

Writing is a process that for many appears to be so simple and easy. That’s probably why so many people claim to have a great idea for a book, because they’ve read many books and think it’s merely a matter of dreaming up some intriguing characters, creating a fascinating plot and telling the story. Of course, anyone who’s sat down and stared at a blank screen knows there’s much, much more to it than that. Writing can be lonely and agonizing, time-consuming and frustrating, exhilarating and intoxicating … all at the same time!

Yes, writing something you’re proud of can be overwhelmingly satisfying. The sense of achievement is like nothing else. But it is not simple and easy.

Before that first word is typed, it’s important to create an outline, a blueprint for your story, to make sure you have a logical order to the story you’re telling and are including all the characters, locations, scenes, etc. that you want to be a part of your book. Few writers I know just jump into a story without first composing an outline to form a foundation for what they want to say and how they want to say it.

Getting started writing is often the toughest part. Coming up with that first sentence, that first paragraph, can sometime be excruciating. A practice I used as a working journalist, facing the challenge of cranking out a 1,200-word story with a fast-approaching deadline hanging over my head was this: just type anything, the most basic sentence or two, to get started. Once I got started, the story-telling often flowed much easier and I could always go back and edit my start to make it better.

Another tip: Don’t make writing a laborious chore. As a writer, you can’t sit back and wait for inspiration to strike, but you also shouldn’t sit there wasting time and effort when the words aren’t coming. Tend to your project with a steady schedule, but allow yourself breaks — maybe a couple of hours, maybe a couple of days — to clear your head and regain the pleasure of storytelling.

One style mistake I find common among new authors is a tendency to write too long of sentences that inevitably turn into too long of paragraphs. In most cases, but not always, it’s better for the reader when sentences are kept shorter and large blocks of text are broken up into two or more paragraphs.

Also, it’s important to focus in on descriptive details in your writing. Writing is painting a picture for the reader’s mind, so including more details and descriptive terms will make your writing more captivating to the reader while creating a more vivid image of whatever it is you’re writing about. (“I got nowhere to go,” he quietly mumbled, as opposed to, “I got nowhere to go,” he said.)

Another valuable suggestion when it comes to writing is to constantly edit and re-edit your work. When you think you’ve got it finished, let it sit for a few days or weeks and then read/edit it again. And tweak it again a few weeks later … and maybe once more. And it’s always wise to have a new set of eyes review your work, whether that person be a professional editor you hire or someone with a journalistic/writing background.

I was once told, and learned it to be true, that even the best writer’s work can always be improved with some solid editing.

Of course, watching your work get edited and altered takes an open mind and thick skin. But the finished manuscript will be something you’ll be proud of because, well, you did it and got it done! No more wondering. No more dreaming.

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