On Your Mark, Get Set...Start!

 by Charlotte Bennardo

What does it take to get started? For painting the dining room (which I've put off for two years) it was scheduling time so I had to do it. For doing my MFA homework, it was sitting down at my desk in my office away from all distractions. For starting a new writing project? 

photo by Tembela Bohle, Pexels

All it takes is the spark of an idea. 

A bit on conversation overhead in a store.

A trivial fact read on social media.

An idea taken from a well-known story, but from a completely different angle. 

Asking the question.... What if?

For me the problem is never the getting started, or even finishing, but working through the middle. Getting started is easy because when that idea hits you like a slap upside the head, you can't wait to start writing (authors call it a 'new shiny'). It almost drags you away from other stories where you're stuck in the middle or trying to work in the best ending. 

Starting the race is easy; it's dragging your body across the finish line. So the question might, for me, be better phrased as "What does it take to get started on finishing that project?"

The best way to get started:

1- Make a list of what needs to be done first: schedule time block, gather materials, etc.

2- Have a clear idea of what needs to be done: a preliminary or even a detailed outline (that could be your starting point).

3- Give yourself permission to stop after a certain amount of the work is done, but leave a few notes on where you'll be going with the next sentences/paragraph/page/chapter.

4- Don't expect instant perfection if it's a work in progress (unless you're painting the dining room walls, it should be as perfect as you can make it. You don't want to have to do it again!)

5- Give yourself a schedule so that you don't step away from your start for too long. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Currently she is working on several novels for both children and adults, and her MFA. She lives in NJ with her family and two demanding cats. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out.