Experience and Motivation Forum The Journey

No one seems to give the right advice for actually getting writing done. Ironically books are horrible for this. Oh, they might tell ya how to use a period or a question mark, or what a verb is. It might even tell ya what conflict and resolution is, but they don't really explain the process the way it seemed I needed it explained to me in the beginning. Here is what has been working for me since I have been writing my adventure/ fantasy novel.I came up with the idea first. Then I wrote about it. I didn't write a first draft. I just wrote. I wrote to come up with more ideas based on the idea that I had. If a person could really astral project, what would happen? Maybe the protagonist would meet someone. What is that person's story? What would be some conflicts that would get in the way of them being together? Distance? Differences??After getting an idea of what my book was going to be about and what would happen in it, I answered some questions to get even more detailed. What do the characters look like? How did they grow up that influence who they are? I answered questions as I came up with them and as I found them on various websites. Once I was finished with answering questions, I wrote out my story shorthand. This was such an important step for me. Writing shorthand means you will omit a lot of details, and description and just write like this: this happened because that happened, so it caused this other thing event to take place. Example: The girl could astral project, so she met this boy at this one place, but then they got into a fight because they were different nationalities of people that were at war with each other so they quit seeing each other for a time...short hand would be more detailed than a summary, which is equally as important to write during this step. Then came the time to write the outline- chapter by chapter. I began to get a feel for how long the book was going to be. I was able to learn more and more about my story with every step, and it began to write itsself. I began to write. I knew and loved my story so much I literally laughed and cried as I wrote it. Your outline will not be perfect. There will be things your characters may reveal to you as you write that you will have to go back and change, but that's o.k. Really, it is o.k. Writing is one of the least expensive and freeing, and expressive forms of art that you can spend time creating. It is important that your writing remains yours- a creative and one-of-a-kind expression of who you are that no one in the world will be able to dictate to you- or mimic.