Episode 1: What to do when you find yourself saying "I don't know how to start"

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Transcript

Stephanie: 0:00

Hello fiction writers. I'm Stephanie Oswald, your fiction book coach and podcast host. Welcome to the Love is Brewing podcast. This podcast is your weekly bit of fiction book coaching for the writer who enjoys a good love story in any genre and is ready to write the book they've always dreamed of getting in the hands of readers. On this podcast, you'll get down to earth, talk about what it takes to write your book as I take you from messy first drafts. To marketing launches. We'll walk through the doubt, the detours, and the big dreams. Each week, we'll explore all different avenues to help you write your book and keep going no matter where you are in the process. This is a podcast for authors who write romance, but really it can be for any genre because a good love story is often at the heart of every great book. This is a place where I'll be sharing tips suggesting tech tools. Throwing in a little pop culture now and again, and writing insights will be offered, but at the end of the day, it's up to you to take what you need and leave the rest. You have everything you need to be a writer, but it helps to have support and guidance along the way. I, so I hope you'll join me every week here at The Love Is Brewing Podcast. Hello, my writing friends, and welcome to the first episode of The Love Is Brewing podcast. I'm so glad you're here with me today as we get started on this journey for adding love and romance to your fiction work. Or if you're simply focusing on romance, you're in the right place. Today I'm going to talk with you about a statement that I hear so often from writers and whether it's been in a critique group, a writing group, or working with writers. I often have heard writers say, I don't know how to start. Does this sound familiar to you? It's really common to take a look at the blank page. Feel really stuck. So you're definitely not alone. If that's a thought that you've had when you've sat down to write, is thinking to yourself, I don't know how to start. So let's begin. One of the first things I'd tell you is you don't need the perfect first line. It can be really daunting to look at a blank page and wonder how to begin. And if you're a perfectionist like I am, actually, I'm trying not to be, but you know, it comes back around time and time again, but you really don't need the perfect first line to start. Sometimes the. Perfect first line is buried deep in the second or third paragraph, or maybe even the second or third chapter after you've already started, or maybe you're halfway through your manuscript and you realize that the beginning is appearing in the middle. So there's so many different places where you're gonna find your perfect first line, and it's definitely not when you first sit down to write. If you ask any writer, it's so common to face this idea that you just don't know where to begin. So what I offer you is the suggestion to start with, what excites you, what gets you talking, what could you be on your soapbox about all day long? What could you talk about? What type of scene between your characters jumps out at you? Think about. Uh, everyday experience you've had and use that as a jumping off point to get started. And one of the most important things that you'll hear me say over and over again if you follow me on this podcast and on this journey is you don't have to start alone. It is such a myth about writing and being a writer that says that you need to be doing this all by yourself. Hold up in an office space in your house, or you know, at your desk or whatever space you've created yourself for yourself, and that you have to do this alone. You do not have to start any of this alone. I really encourage you. To find a writing buddy, find a writing group, even if it's online and virtual. That absolutely works and is wonderful, and especially in our current day and age where sometimes it's hard to fit it into your schedule. If you can find someone where you can hop on the Zoom, turn off your camera, turn off your microphone, that is awesome. That is something that I do as often as possible with. My business partner, writing friend Elizabeth, we co-host the Inspired Writer Collective podcast together, and we talk about this all the time, about the power of community, and we enjoy co-working. Whenever we get the opportunity, we'll text each other and say, Hey, let's hop on. And. Do you have time to write today? And we will make the time to write. So again, you don't have to start alone. And it's very important too, to remind yourself that your first draft is never your final draft. This is so important because I think there's often so much pressure that we can put on ourselves as writers that somehow we have to miraculously come up with this perfectly polished piece of writing right from the gate, and that just is not realistic. It really doesn't happen that way. And so. It's okay if it's messy. It's okay if you take a pen to it and you have writing up and down the margins. If you're someone who's pen to paper or it's okay if you have a million comment boxes down the side of your screen if you're, you know, commenting in Word or on Google Docs, or it's okay if it looks messy because you know what? That's part of the process. So one of the actions I encourage you to take when you have time. Maybe when you're done listening to this episode, or maybe even right now, pause this episode and set a timer for 10 minutes. Get a piece of paper, open a word or Google Doc or wherever you do your writing. And just write for 10 minutes and see what happens. Just allow your thoughts to flow. Don't think about what it is that you're writing. Just start writing, because again, you don't need the perfect first line. And. Oftentimes something that's on our mind is something that excites us, something that gets us going and fired up. So start with that, and you don't have to start all of this alone. One of my favorite places to write is in coffee shops because it gives me that sense of community without having to talk. To everybody around me, but I get the vibe, the energy, you know, other people are working on their things. I'm working on my things and I'm not alone, and I'm writing. And also, again, your first draft is never your final, final draft. So writer, if you're feeling like you don't know where to start, it's okay. And one of the things that I would encourage you to do. Instead of saying, I don't know how to start, is also to try asking yourself, why is it important? I do start, so I'm gonna repeat that again. Why is it important you do start. What is it about this writing project? Whatever it is, whatever your work in progress might be, whatever idea you have for a book that you wanna start, why is it important? Is it because it's, uh, been a dream of yours from the time you were I. A little kid, and you always wanted to be a writer, but you were told that that wasn't a viable career path. And that's often the story, unfortunately, for a lot of writers is coming to this later in life, much like I am. But you can start. Are you doing it because you can't find the book that you wanna read on the shelves in a library or a bookstore? Or when you were in school and there was books that you wanted to read, but you just couldn't find them, and so you just know in your heart that you're meant to write them. Is that why it's important you start? Is it important you start because you have a story that you wanna tell that you feel the world needs to hear because your story matters. I want you to know that as a book coach, I'm here to help you fulfill that dream of yours. Whether you join me here on the podcast every week or decide that you wanna work with me, I'm here to help you find your voice, get your words on the page, and realize your dream, whatever that might be. So again, instead of saying, I don't know how to start, remember, all you have to do is take one small step and you can start, put one word on the page, another word, another word, and before you know it, you'll have word after word after word, and you'll start filling that page and your ideas will start flowing and it doesn't have to make sense. Because guess what? It's easier to edit a page that's filled with writing than one that's blank. And so again, writer, I encourage you to think about why it's important you start. Remember, you don't need that perfect first line, and I'm here to be your guide and support along the way. I encourage you to find my substack. Follow me on Instagram. The links are in the show notes. Reach out to me. I'd love to hear from you, and happy writing.