Lawrence Medina

Where do you begin, when you take your seat before the keyboard?

When did you learn that writing was the craft you sought, that storytelling was the way you should go in order to drive your passions and tell what you held onto?

Where did you tell your first story?

My first story was in an earth science class. An odd start for anyone I suppose… It was here that I got my first taste for creating a story.

The assignment was to write about the metamorphic stages of a rock.

My tale began at the top of mountain, where a once might boulder—who froze so many times and broke down over the ages of wear and tear… was now almost a pebble.

“If I freeze one more damn time, I’ll be a pebble,” was the opening sentence for my story.

It was, if I recall, kind of funny. My teacher at the time was impressed, they spoke to me after class to say, that they wished I had shared the story during class. I suppose you could say, that it was in that earth science class way back in middle school that I got a taste for writing.

What was I thinking when I first started that story? I guess it was something as simple as freezing and becoming smaller.

What do you do when you begin to write?

How do you get around to making your piece of content for that day or week to fit the needs of your schedule and audience?

It is often a hassle to begin to write. There are a number of things that can take you out of the mood and rhythm when you sit down and start to type away, so what are the best ways to ensure that you keep writing?

Settle a time.

Decide that at a certain hour or time, you will take that time to solely write. Whether it is the project you want to start on or the content you have slatted for your schedule.

The more you become use to writing at a specific hour or time of day, the easier it will be to get into the flow of writing.

Set Your Space

Ensure that the space where you write is made specifically for you to write in. This can be anywhere or any place, just make sure you can write in that space. If you play games at your desk, it can be hard to keep writing, since there are so many readied distractions for you.

It often takes a hardened will to…

Sorry, I finished writing that sentence last week or so, I forgot where I was going… I started playing DOOM… I’m cutting it pretty close to my deadline…

Oh, uh, set your space to write in! Don’t set it in a place where you can get easily distracted.

To Write from the Cuff or To Write with a Plan

Every writer has their own style, but you should probably sit down with an idea in mind. Well, not quite an idea, but a game plan. Will you write from the cuff or write with a plan in mind.

If you are writing from the cuff, it means you are just letting ideas flow as they come out of you. This is fine, but it may lack structure. From the cuff writing may have run-of sentences and ideas that don’t get completed.

Writing with a plan is usually the way to go, especially when you are creating content. It should be formed like an argument, A+B = C. Each point should be defined and lead you to what you want to share by the end of it or what you want your audience to walk away with.

I suppose I’ll leave this off here…

Tell me, did you laugh when you read this? Did the silence hang for a moment, because you were shocked?