Where do I begin?

By the time you are picking up your pen, or opening a new word document, presumably you have some idea of the story you are hoping to tell, (or at least an interesting a situation for your imagination to work upon) and there in front of you is the blank page or the empty screen and at that point you start to panic and go running for the trees, because when it comes down to it, you don't know where to begin.

I'm not going to talk about plot or structure at this point, I'm going to talk about character, because generally speaking the character is author of the plot and should come first in your thinking and planning.

To quell the panic, it might be a good idea to write down twenty things that you know about your main character, focusing on significant things which have happened to him or her.  Carry the list around in your head for a little while, as it is usually extremely productive to allow things to mulch, and then whittle it down to the five most salient points.  Sequence them into some kind of order -- it doesn't have to be chronological, it can be thematic - and then start writing a paragraph or two and hey presto, before you know it, the page isn't blank anymore and on the screen the beginning of a story is emerging...


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Allardyce Barnett Publishers

http://www.abar.net

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Unsubsidised, small print runs of books about poetry, art and music.