Writing 101

Get those feet wet!

How do you start writing?  How is it possible to sit down and write a WHOLE play (book/screenplay)?  How can I become a writer?  Where do I start?  Is there a secret to writing?

Just a few of the questions I get asked from time to time.  It can be overwhelming if you want to write, but never have.  Well, the answer is overly simply, a secret that only writers, artists and other creatives seem to know.  Here it is, ready?

Just start!  Jump in, get those feet wet!  Just Start??!!  HUH??

I don't mean to sound like a Nike commercial, but JUST DO IT!  No one can start a play, book, essay, journal, screenplay, poem, or frankly, anything in their life, without just showing up and 'doing it'!

It's Writing 101, really.  Writers like to call it 'Showing up at the page.'  That means, sit down at your computer, typewriter, or paper with pen, and begin to fill up that blank page.  You can't write if you don't start putting down words.

Some people walk through an art gallery, look at a cool painting and say, "Gee, I could do that! Ha! For the price they're asking, I should do it!"  Funny thing is, those folks usually don't go out, buy the paints & canvas, then sit down and actually try to paint.  It's the same with writing - if you don't actually make the effort to start, you never will be a writer.

My favorite college professor, Sam Havens - who was my playwriting professor, of course! - said to me once, "It's just paper, not cement. Don't be afraid to put it down, paper erases!"  That was really on the cusp of desktop computers, so now it's easier than ever to erase!  Delete, rearrange, edit, edit, edit!  BUT, you can't do any of that if you don't show up at the page and get those tootsies wet! (I love a good mixed metaphor!)  Good or bad, write like you want it - but you have to start by sitting down at the computer and turning it on!  Now, go do that.  Yes, right now!  Go write a sentence, start with just one....

Ciao for Niao!  Texas Playwright Chick