Image from Flickr by a.dombroswki

On a fairly regular basis, I get comments and emails from fledging writers who want to know:

  • Where do I begin?
  • How do I decide what to write about?
  • Am I crazy to pursue this writing dream?

Often, these new writers don’t have much support from the people around them. Perhaps they don’t know anyone else who’s a writer (or aspiring writer). Maybe their spouse is critical about their writing, dismissing it as “scribbling” or “a waste of time.” Perhaps their parents tell them that they should take a law or medicine or accountancy degree and “get a real job.”

No wonder they worry that they’re crazy to want to write – especially if the impulse to write isn’t yet tied to an impulse to write a particular piece.

The good news?

If you’re in this position, you’re absolutely not crazy, and you’re not wasting your time.

If you dream of seeing your name on a book cover, or having your work read by thousands, or simply producing something you’re truly proud of, that’s a wonderful and worthwhile dream.

It might seem a long way off right now – but by making the decision to write, regularly, you’ll be getting closer every day.

Deciding to Write

Back in my own early days as a writer – when I was 11 or 12 – I often wanted to write but had no idea what to write about. I was used to begin given school assignments that told me what to do.

Whether you’re coming to writing as a teenager, a new graduate, or someone who’s just retired, I think the process is similar.

You want to write, and perhaps you’ve even set yourself a goal or resolution that’s related to writing … but you seem to have so many different options and choices, you just don’t know where to start.

We’re going to take a look at two easy ways to get into a regular writing habit. At the end of this post, I’ll be setting you a mini-challenge.

Starting #1: Using Competitions

One of the best ways to get your writing off the ground, especially if you’re planning to write fiction or poetry, is to look for competitions.

If you’re lacking confidence – and many new writers are – then don’t panic. You’re going to be using the competitions for inspiration, and you don’t have to enter them. (Though I hope you will!)

To find competitions, try:

  • Writing-related magazines – here in the UK, Writing Magazine has monthly competitions, usually with a particular theme, topic or starting line. Many magazines will also advertise writing competitions.
  • Searching online for “writing competition” (or “short story competition”, “poetry competition” etc)  plus the name of your country.
  • Asking fellow writers – on Twitter, Facebook, or forums. Many will be more than happy to share any interesting competitions with you.

By narrowing down your options from “write about anything at all” to “write something on this specific theme”, competitions make it much easier for you to come up with an idea. They normally also include restrictions on word length (e.g. short stories have to be under 2,000 words for many competitions) – and this can also help.

Don’t be afraid to start entering competitions early on during your writing journey. It might be a while before you win anything – but the practice of entering them will encourage you to polish your work to a high standard. (Many competitions have entry fees, though, so you may want to focus on free / cheap ones while you’re honing your craft.)

Starting #2: Using Prompts and Exercises

Many websites – and writing books – have prompts or exercises for you to try. These are fantastic ways to get moving with your writing: unlike competitions, they don’t necessarily require that you produce a full-length story, poem or article.

Online, some good websites for this are:

Two books you might want to try are:

The idea behind most prompts and exercises is that you pick one, set yourself a time limit (often just 5 – 10 minutes) and write whatever comes to mind. Sometimes, of course, you might feel inspired to write for longer … but it’s fine if you don’t.

You might like to try writing every day, or on certain days each week, with a new prompt or exercise. After a few weeks, look back and see which little pieces of writing might be worth developing into a longer piece – or which ones could be combined together.

Your Writing Mini-Challenge

For the next month, your challenge is to write for 30 minutes or more each week.

You might want to do that in several little chunks, or one bigger chunk. For instance, you could decide to:

  • Write in your journal for at least five minutes each day (you can take one day a week off!)
  • Try out two writing prompts every week, for 15 minutes each time
  • Find one poetry competition to enter, and spend 30 minutes each week working on your poem

Leave a comment below to let us know what you’ll be doing!

 

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