Just Start
Yesterday out of the blue I decided to look through my saved posts on Reddit. I think I saved something recently and I wanted to re-read it, but I ended up scrolling through the list. A lot of it was saved wallpapers, tips and tricks for various bits of tech, and various other junk. I deleted a large portion of posts from the list.
But one thread I looked at was a post from someone being stuck with their writing. It only had a handful of comments (maybe 5 or less) so I’m not 100% sure why I saved it in the first place. It’s from a year ago, and is about fiction – which I really don’t write. I used to, but it’s not my priority. I’ve read the original post and the comment replies a few times now, and I don’t really see what made me hit “save” a year ago.
Strangely, though, when I read it yesterday it kind of kick-started a process in my head. I started actually thinking about writing fiction. I don’t have any story in my mind I’m dying to write, but just the idea that I should write formed. I have that saved post open as I write this, and I think maybe I know why I feel somewhat inspired. It’s the top comment, I think – it basically preaches the notion of “just write”, and promotes the idea of writing bits at a time – instead of looking at a whole novel, write scenes – each scene being its own short story. The other side of it was “write first, ask questions later.” In other words do the fact checking and research later. Not groundbreaking ideas, but sometimes it’s good to hear again from someone new.
But that’s what got my “fiction” wheels turning, I think. What sparked my mind was the idea of writing just a scene – not having to worry about an over-arching plot. It’s about what’s happening in that scene. That makes things a lot easier to figure out. Character names? Back stories? None of that matters at this stage. Just write.
So I may or may not dive into the fiction side of writing this year. I don’t know, but I want to keep the writing train going either way.
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