Let's talk about beginning. The act of getting off of Reddit, logging out of Facebook, closing Minesweeper, and opening a new document to write, be it a story, a poem or an essay.
For me, it takes about a week of mulling my idea over while running with my dog before I actually create the new document. You know, after I've done the above mentioned acts about two hundred times. I am sure everyone can relate to the allure of procrastination. Usually, it is related to not wanting to do something like homework or some other equally heinous activity. But this is writing for fun. So, why do some writers (myself included) do everything they can to avoid beginning a new project?
Because there is nothing more intimidating than that flashing cursor on a white page. The moment you commit words to that page, it doesn't match what you have in your head. (At least that's how I think it works for most of us. If you're not among us mortals, just be quiet and go write your perfect first draft. No one likes you.)
But here's what gets me to start typing that first terrible sentence time after time: I DON'T HAVE TO KEEP IT! When I was younger (seventh grade-ish) I had this idea that I could not ever change the beginning. In high school, learning how to write essays for the AP tests only reinforced this idea. In that case, it was a little more true because (for those of you who don't know) you have to write it in pen by hand and they don't let you use white out.
Obviously, that is not true. There is one beginning I rewrote four times before it did what I wanted it to do. Surprise surprise, this actually applies to all writing. *mind blown*.
Whatever you are avoiding writing, stop. Just write the damn thing.
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