I always find it interesting when someone says they want to write a novel or a short story or start a blog, but just don’t know how. Perhaps they say they’re not motivated enough, or are too scared of what others will think.

The solution is simple: Just write.

It’s not really that hard. You open up a blank Word document on your computer (or its equivalent), and you put those whacky ideas—you know, the ones that have been pounding at your thoughts and keeping that insomnia rampant—straight on the page. If you don’t like that method, then you can just grab a notepad and pen, and simply write.

If you’ve got all those ridiculous ideas exploding inside your mind like a metaphorical set of fireworks, and you have no idea how to start: Read more. Don’t read How to Write a Novel While Living a Busy Life in the Real World for Dummies or Opening Lines: A Chapbook. Read your favourite book, as long as it’s not one of the aforementioned titles. Just read. The more you read, the more you’ll know how to start. It’s really that simple.

If you love writing, then reading will become a second love for you. With people who don’t read often—something that isn’t a 2,000 word business report—their style is different. While it’s not the make or break of being a writer, it does help. I know people who read an awful lot, but have no interest in writing at all. That’s cool. Just make sure you’re not one of those people who says they love to write, when really you’re just someone who says they’ll write something, but never seriously means it. Maybe you mean it in a “I want to be as rich as all those pop-fic authors of the last five years! If I write something, I’ll end up like [insert popular romance-erotica author here]” kind of way.

In the end, if you really want to write, you’ll write. It’s the same with any other profession. If you do something you love, you’ll enjoy it more. It’s something that most people tend to ignore. Those sorts of people live in the Real World where apparently one must be miserable in order to be happy. To be stuck in a bleak 9-to-5 job just to make (interest free for 12 months, of course) payments on a car you don’t even care for, all to make others happy. To sit around complaining about how bad you have it all over social media.

“I’d love to write, but…”

To those people who want to do something they love,

To those people who are afraid of not fitting in,

To those people who are just afraid, period,

Whether it’s writing an epic, bungee jumping, getting your five minutes of fame on reality TV, or becoming obsessed with Sriracha sauce—seriously, just go ahead.

As long as you’re not hurting anyone else, or yourself, just do it.

You do know how to do it.  It’s fear that’s stopping you—a fear of the unknown—as the following may or may not explain:

 

Brains (or lack thereof)

We’re still waiting,

But we’ve already given up,

Despite saying we are ourselves right now

The same us as all the other us’s,

Life in an unmarked grave.

Zombie Credit: http://leganerd.com/2013/09/11/gli-spazzini/

 

There’s no such thing as truly unique, but if you give up, then you will end up just like everyone else.

You may not end up as famous as [insert famous fantasy author here], but at least you’re trying and, most importantly, you’re doing something you love. That ought to count for something.