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Beginning a new writing project has often been compared to taking off on a journey, or a hike, maybe, for short projects. When we start there's some trepidation. We don't know what lies ahead-- a surprise snake across the path? someone's territorial dog? Will we, or our story, fall into a pit? But there's also an … [Read more...] about Start Here: Learn Something New

Starting a new story, with only a seed or two for that story, seems very dicey to me. Perhaps I expect too much too soon. Perhaps, as Jane said, I resist for a while because I know how hard it will be. But eventually, the story demands that I pull up my socks, sit down at my chair and write. Today's guest Dian Curtis … [Read more...] about Start Here, “Moodling” a Story Along

We've all started, once or twice, with "Once upon a time," but even with that beginning, we usually don't use it until we know where we are going. The hard part about starting is that we often don't know where we are going and we make a lot of bad turns, enter a lot of avenues that don't go anywhere we want to go with … [Read more...] about Start Here, Part 2

I love notebooks and can hardly resist adding another to my collection when I'm in an office supply store. A new notebook is so full of possibility. Maybe this time I'll make the transition from glistening idea to actual story with no loss. I always start a new writing project with a new notebook and a new pen. Once I … [Read more...] about Start Here

My granddaughter, who is six years old, has decided she wants to play the ukulele and she wants her Mom to teach her. And she wants her lessons to be in her bedroom—with the door closed. She reminds me of some writers, me included, who, when we start a story, keep it in our pockets, in our bedrooms so to speak, with … [Read more...] about When to Open the Door