Expert: Susan Rand - 6/30/2005

Question
Okay: how to start, how to keep going, how to finish?

Do you have anything you can cut and paste on these huge subjects? I'd be grateful!

(I know there's a book here. How do I get it out?)

Thanks!

Answer
Hello Bonnie:

As a beginning writer - which I believe you are - you must realize that nothing in this process is going to come to you easily. If I were to "cut and paste" all there is to know about these "huge" subjects it would fill 2-3 library shelves. So forget that for now, and let's concentrate on those things you should be concerning yourself with:

1. What do you want to write, and why?

2. What is your topic? (the thing that means the most to you, i.e., animals, school, family, etc., or perhaps you have lived through some unusual experience that people would be interested in hearing about, or perhaps you have learned some lessons that would be of value to people of your age). If you want to write, you must have something to write about.

3. One thing that makes it difficult for young people to write meaningful material even on a worthwhile subject is that it sometimes takes years of thinking about the topic, mulling it over, processing it through the emotions and reaching the point where they can assess it objectively in order to write about it. For any topic, it takes some maturity to get all there is out of it, and to put it on paper.

I don't want to discourage you. If you want to write, you can, and if you want to write well, you can do that, too. The main thing - more important than whether you ever finish even a short story, or ever sell anything, or ever share your writing with anyone - is that you learn to enjoy the process (as opposed to the product). In order to get there, you must serve your apprenticeship: learn to use the tools - words, techniques of various kinds to get desired effects, self-discipline, etc. This will take a while, depending on how much writing you have already done.

For now, I would suggest that you start with small pieces, perhaps a page or two. The subject doesn't matter, but if you need help with topics, come back with another question. Another thing you can do is to get some books on writing from your library and study them. And take all the writing classes you can.

I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high score over 500 questions.

And good luck with your writing!