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The Three-Step Method
That Will Get You Writing - Guaranteed!
By Will Kalif
You dream about writing a novel
or maybe you have already started one yet for some reason the
manuscript is collecting dust in a desk drawer. There is no complex
psychological barrier that prevents you from writing. You can
write out a complete novel from start to finish in no time and
with no anxiety. I guarantee it. Here are the three easy steps.
Step
1- Free up some time and turn off the television!
The most common
complaint is "I can't seem to find the time to write".
Turning off the television solves this problem. How much Tube
do you watch every day? How much do you watch every week? What
do you really get out of it? Turn it off! Better yet give it away.
I'm serious. Me I am pretty lucky. All the buttons on my television
are broken and I can't find the remote. So my TV is stuck on channel
3 which means the only thing I can do is use the VCR. For a while
I could use the VCR to change channels but I lost the remote for
this too so the only thing I can do is pop in a tape and press
play. I watch one or two movies a week and I am definitely not
missing anything -it's my gain. Now I have the time to write and
so will you. Maybe you will even read a little more.
Step
2 - Gather all the materials you need by buying a notebook and
a pencil
I hear it all
the time: "I can't use a computer well. I can't spell. I
don't have the things I need to write. What kind of software should
I get? Well I got something for you. You only need a notebook
and a pencil. You don't need a computer. You don't need a book
on writing. And you don't need anything else at all. What did
they do before the computer was invented? They wrote things out
long hand. And you should do this too. The computer is way too
much of a distraction. How many times have you logged into your
computer to do something and got side tracked only to find the
hours pass by and you didn't accomplish what you set out to do?
There is an additional bonus to writing with a pencil and paper.
It inspires creativity. There is just something about the physical
act of writing that will bring you back to your childhood and
the creativity that is locked inside there.
Step
3 - Sit down somewhere and write
That's it. Just
write. Don't let your mind psyche you out. Don't even give a second
thought to all that stuff about dialogue, setting, characterizations,
plot lines and the like. It doesn't have to be great. It doesn't
even have to be good. That will come later. It is just like exercise.
The more you do the better you get. You will improve. But only
if you write.
Sit down and
write the first sentence and watch it grow into a first paragraph
and then into a first page and then a first chapter. Writing a
novel is kind of like rolling a snowball downhill. Once you get
it started it takes on a life of its own. Before you know it the
story will be writing itself.
If the blank
page scares you then here is the first sentence for you. Fill
in the blanks and don't worry about giving me any credit!
"His name
was _______ and he appeared to be an ordinary guy. But he was
anything but ordinary. He was a __________ and this is something
that the rest of the world couldn't really understand.
Remember
The only thing
that is preventing you from writing is the fact that you are not
writing. Don't worry about anything except whether or not you
are writing. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, passive sentences
are all meaningless if you have no novel at all and a novel with
a thousand mistakes is better than no novel at all. Write the
story and consider all the mechanics of writing later. Along the
way your writing will improve.
Does
this method of writing work?
It sure does!
This is the exact method I used to write my first novel. It is
no great work of art but it is done and it is published. And since
then I have finished my second novel and I am now working on my
third and fourth. The name of that first novel is Fulcrum Shift
and the very first line I wrote is "The figure walked quietly
down the cobblestone alley with purpose". Look it up on Amazon.com
and when your novel is complete, published, and available on Amazon you will be
proud of the results even if it's no great work of art.
About the author:
Will Kalif is the author of two
epic fantasy novels. Storm The Castle - Creativity With Attitude
His Epic Fantasy site: The
Webs Epic fantasy site
Daily Epic Fantasy news:
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