Take the Plunge Tip#5

Dear Storyteller,

Take the Plunge is Tip#5!

Need I say more?!

Have you got the previous tips down?

Now that you’ve honed your observational and analytical skill sets (Tip#1), you’ve daydreamed your way into an amazing scene (Tip#2), you’ve discovered what person you’d like to start your novel in (Tip#3), and you’ve found your unique “voice” (Tip#4), I’m sorry to say, Storyteller, but there’s nothing left but to get down to business!

This is where you let it all fly loose! Cultivate those words. Pound them out on the blank screen of your computer or that notepad you’ve been harboring in your backpack or purse for just such an occasion as this!

There’s nothing better than pouring your heart out onto a page and letting your story unfold.

But you have to use Tip#5 and take the plunge in order to do it!

Some reminders…

1. Don’t think too much. Just write. Getting started is the absolute hardest part.
2. Always remember that you can undo everything you just did. Don’t stress. Just start!
3. Don’t think too much. Didn’t I literally just say this? Yes. I did. Why did I repeat it? Because it is, IMHO, literally the most important thing in writing. The more you overcontemplate something, the more you stifle your creativity. Remember reminder #2: you can-yes, you can-literally undo everything you just placed on a page.
4. Don’t worry about plotholes. They’ll take care of themselves and come to light, most likely, during the editing stages.
5. First drafts are the messiest and the hardest to write. Why? Because you actually have to finish what you started. Haha. But now that you’ve taken the plunge on your story, you must finish it. You have to! And don’t worry. You can, and you will.
6. Don’t fret about getting that opening sentence just right. Just start.

Some additional reminders…

1. Don’t worry about when to create a chapter. Just write. Chapters can be created, altered, new ones formed, some combined, etc when all’s said and done.
2. Don’t have all your ducks in a row (aka this is where daydreaming is utilized over and over again. We’ll touch on this in another tip).
3. Don’t have everything mapped out. Leave yourself room to explore and experience your novel’s world and the people in it.
4. Just have the basics down. Who’s in the opening scene? What’s happening? Where are you headed? These are things that can be further navigated after you daydream the scene you did in Tip#2.
5. Eavesdrop on your characters. More on this is shortly upcoming (Tip#7), but for now, I’ll leave you with this general concept to use to discover what your characters are saying and find out what they’re doing.
6. Enjoy the process! Writing is cathartic and beautiful and a fascinating medium to convey the heart’s inner sanctum of thoughts and feelings as well as the themes and godly ideas housed there. Don’t be afraid to let your voice sing out on the page. Love the music that you create there with the words God’s given you to teach, admonish, and care for the brethren. Let your story be the healthy entertainment another brother or sister in Christ is desperately yearning for!

Are you ready to take the plunge?

I hope this short post has inspired you to get started on your novel. There’s nothing more exciting than the commencement of a journey to meet your first set of characters, the world they live in, and to also discover how they all meet each other in the first place and what unites them: quest, love, or defeat of a common enemy…or maybe all three!

Any thoughts?

Did you have any thoughts on this Tip#5 Take the Plunge! Was it what you’d thought it would entail? As always, I welcome your thoughts and feelings on these various subjects.

Until next time…I hope you utilize Tip#5 to the max, take the plunge this week, and start that story that everyone needs to hear! God bless xoxo