Advice/Help Getting Started: should be easy, right?

[Satanic Nightjar]

Hello, friends! I'm afraid the title is a bit misleading - getting started is hard as hell. I can have an entire plot line drawn up, characters worked out, have everything in line, and then I sit down to write, and...
...
...
...
nothing comes out.

How do you guys deal with this? When you know where you want to go, see the path to getting there, but can't figure out how to take the first step?

 

[unscientific]

I don't!

I plunge into the scene I want to be writing instead! Start where I want to get to!
This may come as a huge shock. You don't need to write chronologically, or write scenes that bore you! You can find a run, exciting starting point that doesn't feel like one, and you can start from there!

Of course this doesn't apply to roleplaying-but you can figure things like this out with your partner!

 

[AnnJam]

All the damn fucking time. The only thing I have done that has helped immensely is:

♫ VOICE DICTATE YOUR IDEAS INTO A GOOGLE DOCUMENT ♫ (or other word doc program). Then edit your word dump into something coherent! At that point your ideas are already down, you're just editing the shitty job the voice dictation left behind (or you know YOU left behind because you think like a squirrel on speed). It's easier at that point.

If you're anything like me its easier to talk about my ideas to myself than it is to write them at first. So voice dictate, edit, rinse repeat however much you need until your idea is down, or you've gotten a flow and feel for writing world building crap (because honestly it's boring!!!)

 

[Satanic Nightjar]

I don't!

I plunge into the scene I want to be writing instead! Start where I want to get to!
This may come as a huge shock. You don't need to write chronologically, or write scenes that bore you! You can find a run, exciting starting point that doesn't feel like one, and you can start from there!

Of course this doesn't apply to roleplaying-but you can figure things like this out with your partner!

I like this idea a lot! My post was originally intended to be about creatively writing on my own, so it's fine that it's not necessarily a tip that works for roleplaying. I tend to get fixated on the very beginning, then frustrated when I can't get it to come out right, which causes me to often give up the project entirely, so starting from a completely new and exciting point might be v helpful!!

All the damn fucking time. The only thing I have done that has helped immensely is:

VOICE DICTATE YOUR IDEAS INTO A GOOGLE DOCUMENT (or other word doc program). Then edit your word dump into something coherent! At that point your ideas are already down, you're just editing the shitty job the voice dictation left behind (or you know YOU left behind because you think like a squirrel on speed). It's easier at that point.

If you're anything like me its easier to talk about my ideas to myself than it is to write them at first. So voice dictate, edit, rinse repeat however much you need for your idea.

I've actually never done this - like, for anything. I swear to god I get social anxiety while trying to talk to a computer XD
But I might give it a go, my sister has used that feature before and likes it a lot, and I've never tried it for creative writing (:

 

[AnnJam]

I use it all the time. I can't say much to help the anxiety. But here is an example of what my mess looks like:

Voice dictated: the elves of this world practice both an advanced magic mixed with an advanced technology. the elves peeked shortly after the Industrial Revolution and the discovery of the ancient artifact that led their Empire to advance decades Beyond any other nation in the world. because of their advancements the Elven people choose to barricade themselves from the rest of the world and are content to wait for the other races and countries to catch up.

Edited: Elves practice advanced magic and technology, mixing the two crafts seamlessly. During the Industrial Revolution elves discovered an ancient artifact, leading the elven Empress Lulia Morvarid to quickly fortify the Empire's borders and barricade her people within; effectively isolating Feofan from the world.

 

[unscientific]

If the scene bores the writer there's a good chance it'll bore the reader. Don't worry if you're jumping around! Establish a timeline and just go!!

 

[CorralDust]

I don't!

I plunge into the scene I want to be writing instead! Start where I want to get to!
This may come as a huge shock. You don't need to write chronologically, or write scenes that bore you! You can find a run, exciting starting point that doesn't feel like one, and you can start from there!

Of course this doesn't apply to roleplaying-but you can figure things like this out with your partner!

I use that for RP posts frequently. If I stare at the page for awhile and I just can't figure out how to start, but there's something that I know I want to address, I'll start writing the middle or the last paragraph first. Usually that'll get the brain juices going enough to let me figure out how to go back and write the first paragraph too.

 

[unscientific]

I use that for RP posts frequently. If I stare at the page for awhile and I just can't figure out how to start, but there's something that I know I want to address, I'll start writing the middle or the last paragraph first. Usually that'll get the brain juices going enough to let me figure out how to go back and write the first paragraph too.

Yes!! Beginnings are awful!! They set up the scene when you just wanna write The Scene!! So write the damn scene then set it up!!

 

[Crow]

Like prior advice says, plan the first post. During my free time, I like to list my plans out via Google Docs or the Private Workshop that everyone just up and has.

Maybe you're a bit nervous.

I know how you feel, so I can potentially take a week to write a few-liner or paragraph for the first post. Are you taking time or are you outright making zero progress?

 

[Idea]

There’s a lot of good advice here. You should listen to that.

If you’d like though, I could contribute this: Maybe try breaking down and systematizing. Instead of from scratch, try figuring out what you need and want out of that post. What do you want/need to establish? How do you wanna segway into the events? What kind of tone, themes and general style do you wanna set and what kind of scene can help you bring that about?

Just answering these and similar questions could give you a pretty handy layout for what a post / starting chapter could cover. It wouldn’t necessarily be 100% fleshed out, but one could easily use it as a pretty complete skeleton for a post. It’s also a method that works when you don’t necessarily have inspiration, and one which you can divide - writing just a segment of the skeleton should seem like a less daunting task than writing the whole thing all at once.

Beyond that all I can advise is “actually start writing”. If you wanna write, at all, being a bit off the mood shouldn’t stop you. If you cannot come up with something, write something random, but write, so you don’t build the habit of not writing. It’s like working out- the more you skip on it, the hard it gets to actually do it.

That’s all. Hope this helps and happy roleplaying!

 

[Satanic Nightjar]

Like prior advice says, plan the first post. During my free time, I like to list my plans out via Google Docs or the Private Workshop that everyone just up and has.

Maybe you're a bit nervous.

I know how you feel, so I can potentially take a week to write a few-liner or paragraph for the first post. Are you taking time or are you outright making zero progress?

Well it's a solo project, so I don't have a partner to bounce off of or to keep me motivated. It's not exactly that I'm not making ANY progress, either, though - I just sit and rewrite the first pages over and over but it always feels wrong. The characters are boring, the setting isn't detailed, it's not clear what's happening, you know.

 

[Satanic Nightjar]

There’s a lot of good advice here. You should listen to that.

If you’d like though, I could contribute this: Maybe try breaking down and systematizing. Instead of from scratch, try figuring out what you need and want out of that post. What do you want/need to establish? How do you wanna segway into the events? What kind of tone, themes and general style do you wanna set and what kind of scene can help you bring that about?

Just answering these and similar questions could give you a pretty handy layout for what a post / starting chapter could cover. It wouldn’t necessarily be 100% fleshed out, but one could easily use it as a pretty complete skeleton for a post. It’s also a method that works when you don’t necessarily have inspiration, and one which you can divide - writing just a segment of the skeleton should seem like a less daunting task than writing the whole thing all at once.

Beyond that all I can advise is “actually start writing”. If you wanna write, at all, being a bit off the mood shouldn’t stop you. If you cannot come up with something, write something random, but write, so you don’t build the habit of not writing. It’s like working out- the more you skip on it, the hard it gets to actually do it.

That’s all. Hope this helps and happy roleplaying!

Thank you! I've drawn up a layout for the overarching plot of the book but I haven't tried that for the first chapter/the beginning - I might do that. I can usually be a lot more productive when I have a solid plan so perhaps the same thing applies to writing.
Thank you for taking the time to write that

 

[CheshireMitsu]

well i mihgt not be too helpful, but what i do instead of getting a whole plot made, i get a very general large plot made with my mind open to the end changing, then i make immediate details, then i write the actual detailed version. its either that or writing completely instinctively, which doesnt make such a good final product, but its good for art blocks, in my opinion

 

[AnnJam]

I just remembered another suggestion. This concept came from a book called Steal Like an Artist, 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (I recommend it). There is a chapter where he talks about creating a digital and a analog space to work. The concept being that you should change your medium to keep things interesting and fun. See sometimes your work flow, your pace isn't always suited to the medium you're working in. For example writing down ideas we mostly use word processors and do everything digitally; with this concept you would take a notebook and write by hand.

Back in 2015 when I read the book I took the idea of switching between digital & analog to heart. I wrote a 50k word fanfic by hand, I would take my notebook go to library or in my car parked in a random parking lot. The change in environment and more importantly the change in medium helped me slow down. Writing by hand is slower in every regard. I found I thought about my ideas slower and clearer, there was a casual, leisurely pace to my work and I felt less pressed and rushed. It was refreshing and freeing in many ways. I would then take my writing and type it out to edit* it properly.

So if the ideas are stuck maybe change the method you use to something slower. Writing digitally is fast and, for me at least, it also demands quicker thinking and I get jumbled and stuck when that happens.

Just thought I would add this because I totally forgot how damn helpful this concept was!

*edit: also helps to redline your notebook first so you don't forget certain edits you want to do!

 

[Yhmera]

I think it's natural to have problems getting started. There is a fear that comes with that first post. Will the other person like it, will they reply after reading it (cause they don't always reply), did I put in enough information?

I used to have extremely detailed worlds, characters, settings, and plot worked out before I ever posted. But when it came time to take that first step, I couldn't do it.

Since then I've become a minimalist. Yes, I make sure all the basic information is covered. Then I let the pin (phone or computer in this case) do the work. I found my cutting down on some of the starting details it left more room to be creative and let everything happen more naturally. I wasn't stuck to write within a pre-built box.

I've also found my RPs have lasted longer, both me and the people I write with seen to have a bit more fun. Now this approach greatly depends on communication. Talk about the story as you go. I also keep side notes over past events so I don't forget.

I guess after a long rambling post, what I'm trying to say is try a different approach to how you start. For some people (like myself) less can be more. And it took a long time to learn that.