What IS on your mind? You have a story you just have to write because you cannot share it one on one with everyone fast enough. You have an issue that needs to be in the forefront of everyone’s mind. You have a ground breaking idea. You have a hero you want to write about. There is something on your mind that you cannot share unless you write it!
Then you sit down to your blank page and write the 1st sentence. Then you erase it. Then you try again, and again, and again. How do you start? How do you get what’s on your mind on paper?
Every writer goes through a different process. There are some that have not only the 1st sentence but the whole 7-book series blocked out in their heads! There are some that are stream-of-consciousness and just sit down and write, and later organize it. In between those extremes, there are a plethora of different processes. You cannot assume everyone writes the same way. But you have to start somewhere.
The first thing many do is get down on paper the main reason they need to write this story. Is it to explore a character? Is it to change someone’s mind? Is it to place beings into a new and alien setting? Is it to instruct? I know one writer that uses this model exactly, and then writes an outline and keeps adding detail until his book is done. Then he erases the I’s and the II’s and the A,B, and C’s of his outline. Another author writes down what’s on his mind: the subject of his book. Then he goes off on bunny trails and collects his stories and illustrations. He next eliminates or at least puts aside the parts that are irrelevant to his subject, organizes and reorganizes these pieces until he has what he wants.
“That Guy” is a cute little fellow in bright yellow Hawaiian shorts and an unmatching shirt that stands on his front lawn watering his flowers and waving at everyone that drives by. We will take him through several scenarios and see that in the end, he is a very wise man.
So you think you’re a leader because you are the one with the whip? After reading this book, people will take a new approach to leadership. We take a look at who real leaders are and why they command their followers so well.
It was just hours before the second sun would rise and it was already hot. What kind of challenges would humans face on an extraterrestrial planet with two suns? We will explore different challenges and aspects of life in a non Earth environment.
Which end do you blow into? We will explore the first steps in learning to play guitar and be delighted that we don’t have to blow into anything!
Try coming up with some things you’d like to write about on a legal pad and why you want to write them. See what happens!