Beginner

I don't think anyone believes they are a good writer - I know I still get nervous despite having had stuff published. It sounds cliched but bite the bullet and do it! Set aside some time to write and don't let yourself get distracted - even if you only set aside half an hour, it's enough to get something down. I started writing in earnest when I was a student, and was working at a cafe for the same sort of hours as you are. Why not get involved with the student newspaper if they've got one where you are? It's a great way of starting writing - and the editor will want stuff for a deadline which should help you find the time! Asking a trusted friend to read your work and let you know what they think can also be good. And you can always submit stuff to ABCtales under a pseodonym if you're *really* shy! Have confidence and remember that even the most famous authors have been rejected at some stage in their career. Just keep at it!

On reasonably warm days, I go for long walks along the seafront - about 3 miles out and 3 miles back. On the way out, I let ideas rattle around in my head with no attempt at structuring them. On the way back, I run them through my head again and whisper notes into a small microphone attached to my shirt pocket. This time I not only try to go with the flow but stay focussed on the essential core of what has cught my attention. For example, in writing Crimson Pirates, I started out with the image of Benny Black, and let the associated images and their emotional impact play round in my mind. On the way back, I started to structure the event in some kind of chronology. Back home, I played the tape back and wrote down key words and phrases in a sort of mind map. Then I write the story. Read it several times. Went walking next day, without the microphone, and pictured the story as it happened. Then I came home and worked on the second and third drafts till I had it as right as I was ever going to get it. Even if it doesn't work for you, the walking will do you the world of good! Cheers, Jamie Cameron

Paul, there is nothing marvellous about stupidity! You will know when you are ready to commit your thoughts to paper/ keyboard because you will DO IT. Oh, and don't ever think you are your own harshest critic, there's always someone who will be harsher!

Paul Icould have writtenwhat you wrote. In fact I had to check in case I'd done it on a late night surfing frenzy without realising, the marine biology bit helped to clarify. For years I've had ideas swilling about in my head and like you the difficulty has seemed to be to get them organised and WRITE SOMETHING. It's just that there are so many good reasons not to get around to it - kids, work, life mostly. This website has just been the most brilliant find for me. It seems incredibly easy just to write something(nothing fancy to start) and there are loads of people ready to offer help and advice for free. Just do it - has to be the best advice.

Hi Paul Whatever it takes to get you writing, when the energy is there you'll need lots of ideas to draw from, and having them now is no guarantee that they'll hang around until you're ready. My advice (for what it's worth) is to always have a note book and pencil with you and jot down all of the ideas/snatches of conversation/descriptions/plot ideas, etc that come to you as you go about your day. All that time in a supermarket must afford you countless characters to watch and behaviour patterns for you to make note of. This jotting will, in turn, keep the creative writing hand as fit as a fiddle for when you are ready, and you won't believe how useful those jottings will be come the day. Hope this helps. Regards, Chris.

my advice is write every day ... kind of like a journal ... any nonsense that comes to mind ... and in a BOOK ... not on bits of paper that you can lose or throw away ... when a line grabs you write it out again and carry on from there ... almost all my work grows from these starting points ... i have stacks of these books in my loft ... and if they come to nothing then at least you will have something that reminds you of how you were feeling at a given time ... and also there will be something that you can instruct people to burn when you shuffle off this mortal coil ... that has a theatrical appeal ...

Paul, it's only naturally for you to have a hard time getting around to writing. I'm taking a creative writing class and one of the first things to learn is that almost all writers are quick to doubt themselves and their ability. Usually the best work that students read in class is preface by "this is really horrible, but I'll read it anyway". well thats my advice, just start writing and don't let your insecurities get in the way.

Pour everything in your mind onto paper. Go away; concentrate on particular ideas or themes. Come back - elaborate. Go away; let it cook some more. Come back - elaborate. Carry on until a piece is ripe enough to burst, then leave it to cool down; get it completely out of you mind. Come back - chop off whole bits. Go away and think. Come back - trim off bits. Carry on going through the whole procedure until you can neither add or take away anything more - it's ready to serve. Try not ("very hard!") to get stuck in the cycle. This is what I do.

Everyone, At last a sensible conversation. ( look at the Gen dis and Ratings thread you will see what I mean). anyway where was I? Paul, sometimes if you force it or try too hard, nothing comes to mind and you get frustrated. because you are frustrated you can't think. My best time is either late at night once I've gone to bed, especially if I can't sleep. Or first thing in the morning. I keep a writing pad and pen beside the bed and write everything down. In fact I am getting quite good at writing in the dark, (can't wake hubby up). If you think that you will remember them in the morning, you won't no matter how hard you try. It also a good plan to put ideas next to your thoughts on paper and then go away and leave it. Forget all about it. Sometime later take another look with "new eyes" as it were, then you will know if it's fit for human consumption as it is, or if it can be worked at. I think the best way is to have fun with it. If it is a chore, don't do it. But no one need see it. Only when you are satisfied that it has the making of a good piece of work, that you could be happy with, then share it. Sometimes the surprise is a real boost, when others congratulate you on the effort. At the end of the day, enjoy what you do. Good luck, I hope that helps. A

Oh come on Antoin, life isn't meant to be serious all the time, and anyway Paul isn't a child for chrissakes, he's a budding marine biologist that thinks stupidity is marvellous!

ben ... i think you are right ... it is my experience that writing class members will apologise before reading ... i suppose it is a defensive reflex ... and it seems to me that when people first start writing they find it hard to distinguish between what is good and what is not in their own work and rely heavily on the feedback from others .. this does change as confidence grows and people begin to accurately assess their work ... taj ... i like the sound of your method ... especially the bit that says "chop off whole bits* ... both you and antoinette suggest leaving a piece alone for a while and i think this is very good advice ... as then it is possible to see it with a fresh eye ... and mississippi ... antoinette has a valid point ... whilst i take part in an enjoy some of the silly threads i also welcome an opportunity to discuss issues ... i am not a person who takes myself seriously but i am damn well serious about writing ... so there has to be room on here for all needs to be met ...

Um, sorry girls, have I been going too far? I wasn't aware that there is a particular mentality associated with 'chat rooms'. I thought this was a room for chatting to like minded people, and I'm all in favour of serious discussion. If the other users here think I'm excluding anybody then I apologise, the last thing I want is for people to groan every time they see my name on there screens. I am well aware that a lot of people take their writing seriously but sometimes they get so serious they are in danger of disappearing up their own backsides. Whilst I would agree that constructive advice may help the novice writer I have a long held belief that the best performers in any area, be it writing, singing, acting or playing a musical instrument are the best because they have something you can't buy or teach. They are born with an unfair share of talent. If you ain't got it, you ain't got it! For my part, I ain't got it! But that doesn't mean I can't get satisfaction out of trying, I just don't think that if I get serious enough I may become Thomas Hardy or whoever. Perhaps the editors might consider a 'silly forum' where we can go for a bit of light relief when the serious stuff gets a bit tedious! I apologise for taking liberties with your name and promise to spell it correctly in future! By the way it's:- ridiculous and prerogative I've started to get a sinking feeling.

I know, it's 'their'.

antoinette, i too find it impossible to write if i "try too hard", and find myself getting ideas in bed (so to speak). notebook's a good idea - i have often had to turn on the pc at 3am for fear of going to sleep and forgetting something. incidentally, i find it uplifting that contributors to these boards (richardw for one) demonstrate both wit and intellect, and that the girlies in the wendy cope thread who recommended some eye-popping poems also have a sense of humour. i think that the jokes - leaving aside whether you think they are funny or not! - came about not as an antidote to seriousness (which i agree should be encouraged) but as an attempt to stop the rudeness and unpleasantness that was emerging in some threads. i certainly would not want to see an end to the expression of serious views, even if when i express them myself i can be accused with some justification of being a pretentious twerp, ahem. i'm going to bed now, with papers and pencils.

As a self-confessed non-intellectual I seem to be digging myself a big hole, and I don't have a very long ladder! Perhaps I should go and hide under a rock, or am I getting a bit too sensitive!

hear hear

blush

I agree entirely - just went wading through your stuff and stumbled across 'Lonely Hearts' which I'd read before on the site but hadn't noticed the author was you - brilliantly dry (as is 'Via Rugby') And 'Lifetimes' was real lump in the throat stuff. You could give Wendy Cope a run for her money :-)

i like Big Nose best ...

why am i suddenly reminded of the life of brian...

robert ... is it true that you always look on the bright side of life?

point taken ivy...i think...why do you always get to have the last word...eh?

ME have the last word????????

Emily, I liked this posting very much. It puts everything into perspective. Thank you. barrywood

Thanks Barry - and welcome to ABCtales. Just read your two stories (I'm finding the discussion forums really useful for getting to know people's work on the site - previously I just used the random story feature because there was so much to choose from.) I may well have nightmares about Warm Milk - it's brilliant. And Margot Rose is really useful as well as being a great read!

i have many good stories in mind but i dont know how to start without lesson or any thing from this stuff i want to do it by my self

Well writing is pretty easy it is only difficult if you make it difficult for yourself,have confidence in your abilty to write I am sure there is a bustling writer just waiting to explode from inside you,well this is whwt I usually do for some reason I write during the night,munching on cookies and SPRITE,I'll write for say a few hours then shelve it,I'd look at it again the next day if I don't like it I'll shelve it if I like it then I will extend from it oh and one more thing "Life has more imagination than we carry in our dreams," remember that write from experience I find that is the best way,take care Imee

Paul, Understand what your going through. I'm in grad school and have a full time job yet I write when I have a spare moment (except for small ventures into this discussions) to myself. A friend just called me up and invited me to lunch. Do you think I accepted? My only time to write during the day! Do you think I'm that weak? How dare you! OK, I'm going to lunch with him...but only today! Tomorrow I work on my novel! No, really! Folgers