How often have you heard people say: “I’ve always wanted to write”?  If you want something badly enough you’ll do it.    If you really want to write – and I mean so much so that it makes your teeth ache every time you enter a bookshop or library, then nothing should stop you. It’s challenging, but filling you with a sense of achievement when you finally get something down on paper.

Think of it like this: the first tryout doesn’t have to be brilliant (nobody is judging it but you)! It might not be the best thing ever written – at first. Or it might be – until you do it, who can tell?

Put simply, that’s what being a writer is all about – even when you’ve actually been published. You are the judge every time. Before you send it off anywhere, before letting your close friend read it, before  being surprised at how good it feels, before anything, you have to find that sense of achievement at having actually done it.  Then you can move on.

But you won’t get even close until you write something. It doesn’t have to be a book: just see what comes out.

It really is simple. You don’t need specialist equipment, you don’t need anything besides your ideas and a will to fashion them into something you can read back afterwards. Think about it: you wrote things at school, didn’t you? Essays, stories, compositions – call them what you will. In the end, what was put on paper was down to you and whatever was inside your head.  Nobody else’s.

Read lots. It’s the best way of getting an idea about flow, composition and structure. About dialogue and characters, about descriptions and scenes.  Join other writers in a writing group. If you can share your wishes with others who have the same desire, it will be so much easier. But it’s down to you – writing is not a team activity.

I’ve never actually heard anyone say:”Oh, I wish I’d been a brain surgeon” – and I’ve known some brilliant people. But the writing thing, I hear it all the time. To have that regret never fulfilled is a great shame. Because we all have it in us, if we desperately want to write, at least make a try.  Do it. Write something. Enjoy it. You might surprise yourself.

 

And if I can help you in any way, contact me at dwaysman@gmail.com – my advice is free, and I’m always happy to help new writers.  I have taught Creative Writing for 40 years, and have been delighted at how many beginners matured to published writers.  There is no thrill to match it.  Jump right in and give it a try!