The Writing Journey
- NJ West
- Jul 13
- 3 min read
Writing fiction is not a simple task. It is a skill one must cultivate over time. Much like any sport, there's tons of practice involved. You write and write and write and write. Sometimes it'll be absolute rubbish, but sometimes it'll create something brilliant. The most important thing to remember is to keep going!
That sounds a bit cliché, I know. Or maybe it sounds like a movie quote... "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." Dory isn't wrong, though. The more words you get out on the page, the more you have to work with, the more you have to work with, the better you will become over time. Thomas Edison himself created over 200 lightbulbs that didn't work at all until he found the one that did. Writing is similar. The more you write, the more you learn what does or does not work.
Starting your writing is hard, let's be honest. Either you go blank just as you sit down to write or you might get bombarded with so many ideas, your head feels like it's exploding. And you only have 2 hands. It feels overwhelming and impossible at times, but you'll get there.
My advice? Make a chaos wall. Find an empty space, a large one, like a blank notebook, or an actual blank wall in your house (please do not do this in public spaces or your neighbor's fence). Then get all the ideas, one by one, out on sticky notes or scrap paper, or any paper you can get your hands on (without injuring yourself or breaking the law) and stick them all over the "wall".
They don't have to be pretty. They don't even have to make sense to anyone but you, just get them out in front of you so you can start linking the pieces together. It might look a lot like a conspiracy wall by the time you're done, but that's half the fun. For those of you who write crime fiction, please be sure to clarify that the mapped crimes are fictional somehow and not a master plan for your next stroll into town.
Get out of your head. You don't have to do all the work in there. Write it out, tape it together, let the map form on the table or on the wall or in the notebooks. It might help to just get it out sometimes. You'll find the method that works for you. I find the order in my chaos this way, but you might find another too. The key is to keep trying new things.
Once you have your story started, run with it! Just keep writing that first draft until the story finds its ending. Some of the best advice I found out there was this:
The 1st draft is to make it EXIST.
The 2nd draft is to make it FUCTIONAL.
The 3rd draft is to make it EFFECTIVE.
Just get all the ideas organized into a lumpy first draft to get it all together. Once you have something to work with, you can start molding it into a better shape that will be more functional as a story. Then you can toss it in the fire of editing and really polish it up to make your manuscript really effective in the whole.
Will it take time? Absolutely. Sometimes years.
Is it worth it? Absolutely. Once you're holding that nicely bound book in your hands that you created through your imagination, you'll know it was all worth it.
How many times do I have to rewrite it? As many times as it takes to make it work.
Whether you are writing just for yourself and your fun hobby or you aim to become published, keep writing. Keep wiggling that pencil. Write it badly. Tear up your notebooks and tape all the pieces to the wall and rearrange them. Make it yours. Make it fun. Keep writing!
The more we practice, the better we become!
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