Advice plz!!!?

Question

I want to write my own novels later on in life, BUT I have trouble putting my thoughts onto paper, even for school assesments I find it hard to start, so if u have any advice for me I'd appreciate it.

Answer 1

It's often hard for people to start things because the numerous details they must pay attention to become overwhelming. If that's your problem, then you can change this by reversing the order of thoughts from the small details to the big picture. Here's what I mean:

Let's say you have an essay to write for school on traffic safety. You know a lot of details about what you want to say, but you can't seem to find a place to start saying them. Start by breaking down the largest idea into smaller ideas, and each one of those smaller ideas into even smaller ideas. Then take each idea and write one sentence about it. PRetty soon, you'll have a whole page of sentences. You can see pretty quickly where you should start discussing your topic when you get all the sentences written!

Starting with the big picture and breaking down the idea into smaller ideas is a very easy way to organize anything--and to stop feeling overwhelmed by the whole project!

If you start with the whole idea, then write a piece at a time, you'll finish a writing project pretty quickly after a while! Use these little pieces and put the ones that fit together together, and you end up with little essays. Little essays can become chapters. Chapters become books.

Start with a journal--write something every day if you can. Even if it sounds stupid, write it out anyway. Train yourself to think "on paper." Slow your mind and thoughts down to accomodate your writing style.

I hope these ideas help you!

Answer 2

Hi, I am a professional writer, so maybe I can help. One of the best things I ever learned was from the award-winning SF author, CJ Cherryh. She told me "Write garbage and edit brilliantly." You can't make it better until you have something to look at. And no one has to see the writing until you are finished making it wonderful.

So, write drafts and be okay if they are lousy. I used to have a "Crap" file that I would put my ideas in. Since it wasn't "real writing" I didn't have to worry about whether it was good or not. I could play with the idea. If it stopped being "crap" or "garbage" I could move it to a manuscript file.

Write everyday. Write about anything and everything. Collect ideas, words, sentences, descriptions, remarks, funny comments, anything you can find.

Remember also, the only way to write a novel is to sit down and write. Plant the rear end in the chair and write. It doesn't matter where you start on the novel, but you have to write. You can add to the front and to the middle and to the end until there is a big enough story to rewrite. It will take time and sometimes you will want to do anything (including cleaning bathrooms) to avoid writing. Write anyway.

Since I also used to teach writing, here's what you can do about writing an assigned paper. Remember, you probably won't know what you think about the topic until you write out the first draft. That's normal. Don't worry about it. So here goes:
1) just dump out everything you can think of about the topic onto paper. 2) Think about the topic - some of the things you wrote won't really have anything to do with the topic. That's OK. 3) Either outline (I hate doing them, myself) or group the like things together. 4) Number them in the order you want to address them. 5) Write a first draft. 6) Walk away from it for a bit, then go back and read it with a fresh eye. Does it say what you want to say in exactly the way you want to say it? Probably not. 7) Rewrite. 8) Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the paper does say what you want. 9) Copy edit before you hand it in. Only English teachers have to read what you wrote. Most people won't read anything that puts blocks in the way (spelling errors, punctuation and grammar errors).

Good luck with your writing.

Answer 3

well, it sounds like you did ok in explaining yourself in this question, so that's a start! I would suggest writing something everyday, even just a short paragraph or two. It takes alot of determination to write a whole book, so you will need to be able to discipline yourself and work on your writing so that you can effectively express your thoughts.

Maybe you should start by making a list of say, 20 different topics/questions. Like "what makes me happy" or describe your best friend. After you have a list, each day chose a different item on the list to write about. Writing is just like anything else, the more you do, the easier it gets! Don't worry too much about grammar and punctuation, as getting the thoughts out there are what's important.

Reading is also a great way to improve your writing. Read lots of books, and you will find that your vocabulary and grammar/punctuation will improve, too, without even thinking about it!

Answer 4

Good for you!
Unfortunately, I don't have any good advice for helping put those first few words on to a page. I imagine everyone has the same problem - I know I do. But I always find that once I start the rest flows out like a badly cooked sausage.
The only advice I can give is to write! Writing something is better than writing nothing, even if you change it later. At least you will have done something and it may get your muse flowing.
Best of luck.

Answer 5

Being able to write for school and writing novels are entirely different things, I think. At school, you usually have a certain topic, a certain format. On your own, it's anything and everything you imagine.

As some other posters said, I would keep a journal around. I, for example, get struck by my best ideas just as I'm falling asleep, so I keep a notebook and paper on my nightstand. Just, whenever you have a good idea, or just an image, or anything, write it down or draw it (I find that helps me visualize scenes). Don't worry about plot, characters, or anything until something really strikes you. Something will, if you let it. Cast your mind around on things you care about, or things that would be interesting. Whether it's gardeners solving murder mysteries or about the cockroach kingdom thousands of years in the future after mankind is gone.... If you care about it, you can write about it.

Once you have the initial thoughts of something you really want to do, then is the hard part (in my opinion). You have to work out character, plot, conflict, setting, etc. Figure out your point of view. I spent a month writing a story from about ten different perspectives at different times in the story before I worked out exactly what I wanted to write from. Well... I still wish I could write it from like six angles...

After you get the general storyline in your head, start writing. I know, I know, it isn't that easy. But it can be. Just sit down with your pen (or your keyboard) and write out the parts that you have a general feeling about how they will go. (I'm usually good with beginnings and endings but horrible with conflict in the middle). Once you've written those, you can connect them, work out how things would have to go for things to get from A to B. Then edit them, and start writing the parts you needed before to connect. Then edit more. Put in foreshadowing and all that good stuff.

Good luck! I hope that helped you. I always want to help writers to get going...and I wish I could get myself going more than I am.

Answer 6

Keep a journal with you everywhere you go. You may have ideas about different things to write about. By keeping a journal handy, make notes on the different things you think about and later, arrange them according to their likeness. Maybe you might find a good starting section or write in sections(chapters) then arrange them. Try writing a short story. I am sure you have read enough books to have some idea what to start with first.
Best of Luck

Answer 7

it sounds like you need a good teacher that can teach you how to write you thoughts down on paper who ever this person is they must have patience,and you must want to do your part also because it's going to be hard,but if you want to writ that book one day you will do what ever it takes to get the job done and when you write that best seller you can see why all the hard work was for.I incourage you to go back to school and take up a writting class and hope like hell you are blessed with a good and patient teacher and you book will be published soon. Good Luck!!!!

Answer 8

Editing comes after you have written something. The most important thing is to get the idea, the event, the incident on paper so you won't lose the thought. Then you can go back later and edit. The most important things are the events and your emotional responses.

Answer 9

I agree with nolonger amused. Get yourself a notebook, sort of a diary if you will, and write down your random thoughts as you have them. You can later expand on those.

Now, as to how I do it: Two things, rock music played though ear phones. I will let you guess at the decibel level. And a picture. Got a lot of short stories, one novel, working on second, and a soon to be released comic book. Check out my 360 blog.

-Dio

Answer 10

I have loads of books lying around with bits of notes, one-line of a paragraph, half-assed reminders and the like.

Some if it is undecipherable gibberish, but sometimes it helps me remember a big chunk of something I wanted to write.

The most annoying one was "Little Finger". I had no idea what the hell this meant, but I remembered it was funny. Took me two months to work out.

Also, if pen&paper ain't your bag, why not just type and type and type. You can edit later.