Er, hi. Pardon the fandom theme, but I had wanted to use this somewhere, and it's not that bad... Everyone tells me I'm a good writer, highly literate, etc. I've had several people tell me I should write a novel, and every now and then I have ideas, but I can never manage to put them into any sort of action. They exist only as fragments, and eventually I move on to something else. But I'm enamored with one possibility for a story right now, and thought joining a community to actually, you know, write and critique with might get me to actually put pen to paper (or keystrokes to word processor). Sorry for the overly long "introduction", but otherwise, hello!
I'd recommend starting a progress journal on here, personally I've found that if I know other people are even just watching my progress it helps keep me on track.
Hi, now pound the keys until there is either no more keys, or all you are left with are stumps of mangled flesh where fingers use to be. And then continue. Hopefully in the end you have a story, or at least one hell of a beginning to a story.
I know that you didn't actually ask about this, but I wanted to address it anyway. Not long ago, I burbled at some length about the difference that I see between writing essays and other nonfiction, and writing stories. My view was that when you write an essay, you are translating thoughts that are mostly already words, into typed words. The source mostly starts as words. Fairly easy translation. When you write a story, you are translating thoughts of images and sounds and emotions into words. With the exception of dialogue, the source doesn't start as words. So it's a harder and in fact fundamentally different task. I just felt the urge to present that theory again. Anyway, welcome!
I went through a phase similar to this where I thought I could only write non-fiction. But there are books for learning the craft. Check my sig for a couple to get you started.
Welcome to WF! I hope you'll like it here. Starting can sometimes be pretty daunting, but there really is no way around it. And when you get into the groove, it's just so much fun! Here's our New Member Quick Start to get you started. Have fun! -Kat
