Studio Blog: Get Started with YOUR Story - It's easier than you think!

With the kids back in school and life (hopefully) a little less chaotic, I wonder if you have just 30 minutes to take for yourself? 

 I believe everyone has a story in them. Some are fiction, some are romantic, some are gothic, some are criminal. Some are even in the form of a biography or a play, or even a poem. Whatever it is, it's being lost and forgotten every day we don't write it down.

So what is your excuse? Nerves? Fear? Time? Where to start? Being exposed? What?

Let's be blunt, your story does not need to be read by anyone, at least not to begin with. Just write the darn story and let it sit in your drawer for a week or so, then revisit it and see how you feel about it then.

I've done that with many story ideas over the years. In my 20's I loved to write single-parent success stories, because that's where I was in life, a single mom of 2 boys, and I wanted so much more for us than I felt I was able to give them at the time. My way of getting through was to go inside my imagination and create a world where every obstacle had a fairly reasonable outcome. There's no way these stories will ever see the light of day, for a few reasons: 

1. It's not the genre I enjoy writing the most.
2. I have no passion to revive the storylines and improve them.
3. For me, they were an escape.
4. I have no idea where they are now.

Like most writers out there, I knew at a very young age that I thoroughly enjoyed writing and creating stories from my imagination. I grew up (in primary school) being taught that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning sets up the story, the middle has all the issues and problems, and the end shows how the problems get sorted out and all is good in the world again. Very simplistic, but fairly close to the basics of today's writing practices. 

You don't need to have been writing for years or have a degree in creative writing to write your story. All you need is a pen, paper and a cup of coffee and a commitment to make a start. Just start. You can go back to it later when you can settle in for an hour or so and crack out those ideas. 

Don't expect to have a print-worthy story after the first draft, I don't think it's ever happened (even Stephen King has to edit!), but having that first draft is the most satisfying feeling for anyone getting a story out. I think it's safe to promise that it's an amazing feeling!! 

Once you've got the first draft out, leave it for a week or so (if you can, this is where excitement usually makes us impatient!) before going back to it and read through. 

Don't do anything to it yet, just read it. Get the feel for what you have written. 

Once that's done, grab a couple of highlighters and different coloured pens and go through it again. Make corrections to sentences, paragraphs, spellings, etc. 

On the third round, go through and add in or take out sentences, paragraphs, scenes, etc and make notes on what you want to replace them with. (This is where colour coding comes in handy). 

After you have done this, make the corrections on your computer (if you have it typed up, if not, now is a good time to type it up). Personally, this is where I print it all off, making sure the spaces are in the right place, speech marks are correct, etc, etc. 

On the printed copy, this is where I do what I hope is my final edit (often it's not, so don't be put off if you think of corrections). I also find a change of scenery is a good way to clear my mind at this point, so I will frequently perch up in Costa or Starbucks and edit the entire thing (even if I've written a 40,000-word draft, I'm determined to edit it in one shot). Make sure you give yourself enough time to spend editing, it's surprising how long it can take and the distractions we can have out in public. 

So you have your story written, edited and re-edited. Congratulations! Now what?

Well, that is up to you. Do you want to write another? Do you want to share your masterpiece with the world? If so, how? Self-publishing? Traditional Publishing? 

1. Do you want to get it printed as a one-off book? 
2. Is there a follow-up story? 
3. Is it part of a trilogy, or more? 
4. Or is it a read-alone story? 

These are just a few questions to ask yourself. You don't have to want to be a writer/author to have a book published, sometimes it's just something we have on our wish list, and once it's done, the itch is scratched. 

Whatever you decide is right for you, enjoy your long, hard work, you have achieved something many people won't even start! There are some extra things you can do, whatever you choose to do with your story, but they really are optional.

1. Create a map in relation to your storyline - not anything specific or real, just imaginary, that brings life to your story. This is an exciting project and doesn't need to be perfect.
2. Write short back stories for each of your characters - this adds a depth to the story. If you want to include this in your 'book', add it to the front or back, whatever you prefer.
3. If you have specific locations in your story, write a short blurb about them.

As I said, these three ideas are added extras and purely for fun. That said, even if you are looking to publish your story, you can still add them, they make a fun and interesting insight to the world you have created, be it real or imaginary.

So now it's up to you. 

Will you write the story you have inside?