by Joyce Good Henderson

Created on: January 04, 2009   Last Updated: December 03, 2011

If you want to become a writer, you must apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and write. But, you may still have questions about how to get started.

Make lists. Making lists requires the ability to organize your thoughts on paper. Linear skills of going from point A to point B exercise the left side of the brain, from which the business side of writing develops.

Progress from list-making to journaling. When you keep a diary of daily events, the weather, or political news you exercise the left side of the brain. When you make a journal personal and capture your emotions, thoughts and reactions to life, you bring the creative right side of your brain to the paper.

Tell a good story. Writers, whether they are developing a murder mystery plot or reporting the latest neighborhood news, tell a story. We tend to remember the journalist's "who, what, where, when, why and how," and the fiction writer needs to include those same criteria in a novel. You simply have more space to develop each aspect in a one hundred thousand word novel. Story-telling exercises the right side of the brain, giving full rein to the subconscious mind. Ask yourself, "What if?" "How might something be different?" "What would happen if?"

Watch people. Collect ideas and descriptions. Listen to dialogues. One fiction writer has a notebook for each project, with descriptions of dress, magazine pictures of furnishings, floor plans of the house, or possibly photos of the setting, as well as charts of characterizations, plot, hero's journey. Could she reuse the setting or time period? Certainly. Another notebook contains only titles and one line of a plot idea or a brief character description or a name, all of which are elements that will someday be worked into a story.

Write what you know. You may not believe you have enough credentials, but there is one area where you are an expert: your own life. Memoirs and autobiographies of the unknown masses don't sell well, but the story of your life may have interesting or humorous events that you can market as a short nonfiction piece or incorporate into a novel. Another option is to find someone with an interesting life story and interview him. Ask an elderly person what he did before retirement. You may be amazed at the stories you will hear.

Learn how to research. A writer's best friend used to be a reference librarian. Now, it may be a search vehicle on the Internet, but you still need to frequent libraries and bookstores. Develop your

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