The Right Time to Start

 by Jody Feldman

I used to believe, in writing a book, there’d be a green light or a starter’s pistol or my gym coach with his loud whistle—some overwhelming signal—to tell me when to put pen to paper and just...
Go! 
Write that first line! 

If I’d waited for such a sign, right now, I’d probably be heading to some office in some building at some prescribed time instead of at this desk in these workout clothes, typing at my leisure on this keyboard.

This all begs the question: How do I know when to start writing that book?

The short answer...
There will come a moment in time when the urge to type Chapter One overtakes pretty much everything else in my life.

The longer answer...
Everything start with a spark. A word. A visual. A song lyric. A joke. An emotion. An idea I cannot shake from my mind. Like an acorn in fertile ground, it germinates for a while until it sprouts with the promise of plot and setting, theme and character. 
My head is that acorn, and when it fills with so many details and, especially, with the distinctive voice of my main character... when ideas are ready to shoot from my ears...
There’ll come a point when that first line, essentially, writes itself. And I become the scribe of my thoughts.

Yes, I understand, that’s all pretty unscientific, non-specific, fully abstract woo-woo stuff, but the process is the process. 

And the green light in my mind is undeniable.

Jody Feldman, author of The Gollywhopper Games and the new YA thriller No Way Home among others, is actively scheduling school and library visits for the coming year through How Now Booking.