This month, several of the blogs I follow have concentrated on taking the first step in writing. So I thought I’d jump on that bandwagon, too. Except it’s the very thing that I still have trouble with.

I’ve written before about how once in a blue moon inspiration grabs me and it seems that I can’t write fast enough to get it all down. But most of the time, it’s a struggle.

I have the idea. That’s it. Just an idea. How do I start it?  What should the opening line be? After all, I’ve heard that the opening line is the thing that will make the reader decide to read.  So it’s the most important thing, right? But what about the whole opening scene?  Do I jump right into the action? Doesn’t the reader need to know what’s going on first?

See?  I don’t know what the first step is.

As it turns out, many writers don’t know. I’ve read three blogs tonight that address the issue. One has featured several different authors’ opinions on the subject all month. And you know what? They don’t all agree.

I asked three basic questions in the paragraph above. According to everything I’ve been reading, the answers are…Yes. Yes, the opening line is the most important. Oh, wait. Someone else says yes, you must have a great scene, not just the line. But another says yes, you have to lay the foundation first.

However, I did find one thread throughout the group.

Just write.

All of them – every single one – agree that you have to begin with a word. Then another, then another. String them along. But just begin.

The lines, scenes, and background will develop. Later on you can move them about – re-designing a bit here and there, making things fit in different places. You’ll discover something in between them that is more important than you thought.  You might discover something you thought was necessary, isn’t.

But what’s important is that you write it down. Don’t overthink it. There’s time enough for that after you have all your scrambled thoughts on the paper.

Once I decide where to jump in, I seem to get OCD about a line or scene, and have to write, and re-write, and re-write it until I think it’s perfect before I can continue.  Well, you can kill a story this way, because it’s harder if you have to change it later on.

If we just write, without editing, without thinking ahead about how one scene or line falls into another, if we just write the thoughts as they come to us and worry about spelling or grammar or any other issue later, it’s easier to polish the thing as a whole.

Yup. All the experts agree. We can over-think our writing.

In the beginning, just write.

But it’s so hard…..