I look forward to writing and publishing a book(s) someday.......

[Darth_Kitten]

What can I do to get started?

Everybody tells me "take a creative writing course". Helpful or no? I'm also thinking about possibly going to university (night school, etc)

VERY early stages of change here. ;)

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Start writing

The way to start writing is to start writing.

Avoid courses. Get the words out of you. The more you do that, the easier it gets, the more natural it feels.

Of course, you have to have something you want to write about. Without that, you have no starting point. Once you have that, start writing.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. I agree.

[Orrex]

4. A course can be helpful

Assuming that it's a good course, of course! I was fortunate enough to study under two excellent professors at Penn State (and another pretty good one, too), so I benefited tremendously from their critiques and experience.

But the biggest benefit of the courses was the chance to workshop my writing with serious, honest readers. Each class had between a dozen and twenty students, and each class period we critiqued two of our fellow students' stories.

Certainly it's essential to write extensively on one's own, if only to hone one's basic skills and voice. But there's no substitute for serious, undiluted, and quality feedback, which can be hard to come by outside of a classroom.

A forum like this is helpful, but it's kind of hit or miss. Some postings receive extensive feedback, and pass with nary a whisper...

YMMV, to be sure.


Keep at it in any case!

[WCGreen]

2. Keep a journal.....

Then you will have a whole mess of stuff to pull from when you start to write...

Keep a small notebook handy in case you see something or a thought comes to mind...

Classes helped me find the tools I needed to keep writing...

[Orrex]

5. My only problem with journaling...

I've often asked the question "How can I develop the discipline necessary to write every day?"

And the answer is always "Start by keeping a daily journal."

Well, jeez! If I had the discipline to do that, I wouldn't have asked the question in the first place!


But I do have a writing notebook in which I scrawl whenever I can. It's hardly a daily routine, but it has indeed helped me to keep hold of useful thoughts or interesting turns of phrase.

[WCGreen]

6. That's a start....

But in order to develop the ideas that will turn into good stories, you have to mark down what interests you about today or how you feel about someone you just met or describe the look a loved one gives you when they are disappointed in you...

If you don't want to journal, just make it a point each day to write about memories from your childhood...

There several good books out the but they basically all say the same thing, write, write, write, read, write and read....

[FlyingSquirrel]

7. Read books about writing

There are plenty of very informative ones out there. Can't remember names of 'em. One had advice from some big-name writers like Stephen King - it was one of the best as I remember.

[smoogatz]

8. Read everything.

Good readers tend to make better writers.

[Darth_Kitten]

9. thank you for all the replies.....

:) much appreciated.