Getting Started

How do I get started writing?  This is a precious question. 

THERE IS NO ONE ANSWER.  

THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER.  

EXCEPT THE ONE THAT WORKS.

Still, I am always deeply honored when someone asks.  It took a lot of courage and trust.

I know.  I was there once.  Still today, the mountain of anxiety occasionally reappears.  

People who ask me usually have something in mind.  They have a vision for what they want to write.

They are not asking about the content.  They have that, the vision.  

They are not asking about how to write.  They have that.  By and large, these have been people in different professions or degrees, with a good amount of writing knowledge.

What they are asking is, 

HOW DO I TRANSLATE MY INTERNAL VISION INTO EXTERNAL EXPRESSION?  

For some people, even that question (how) is premature.

For these folks, they are asking the "soul" questions.  They are wrestling with why they would write, whether it would be a good thing for them or the world.  Writers are often wrestling with therapeutic growing edges that inspire and constrain all artists.

I know.  I was there once.  Still today, I wrestle with the "soul" questions.

Over the course of this blog, I will attempt to share my answers to these "Getting Started" questions.  Again, my answers are only that; your answers will be most important.