Getting started can be the hardest part of writing fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Making a plan, and setting off confidently in the right direction sounds easy, but too often we find ourselves staring at the blank page in terror (or simply wandering away to find a less daunting task). In this article we share some profoundly inspirational thoughts from the greats, discuss ten of the best tactics to beat writer’s block (and perfectionism), then provide some of the most successful writing prompts of all time.
Prompts, cues, or even just a little bit of encouragement & guidance can make a critical difference in the early stages of a project. Something that kickstarts your writing might be as simple as a color, or a smell. However, a creative writing provocation that gets you writing can also be something complex like a fully formed plot structure.
Sometimes you need a story or poem topic area. Something that might be considered a genre, or a theme: Like war, love, time, or friendship. Alternatively, a creative writing opening, or beginning, can be formed around a strong character in poems and prose.
A writing suggestion might come from a friend, or a teacher, or a family member. It might even come from a pet, if they look at you pleadingly or do something funny. An exciting creative writing plan, that makes sense to you, and energizes you, is sometimes all you need to get started writing.
Here are our best thoughts and ideas to help you set off confidently in the direction of your writing dreams.
1. My Kingdom for a Plan
A writing plan can provide a framework within which to work that gives shape to your activities. Here are some suggestions. Give yourself a timeframe. Write one poem a day. Or give yourself a week to write a short story. Or perhaps give yourself a year to write a novel. Start by writing down what you are going to write, and how long you are going to give yourself to do it. For longer tasks, write down how many words you are going to write per day, or how long you are going to spend planning, and how long writing. Break the exercise down into manageable chunks. Don’t delete anything. Do what is required to fulfil that element of your plan, then move on.
2. The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good
The first draft of anything is not very good. Don’t delete anything. Do you find yourself paralyzed when you stare at the page, quickly erasing any efforts that do not meet with your approval, or look worthy of the Nobel Prize? Here’s a mindset to beat perfectionism: “I am going to do the best job that I can in the time that I have, and then I am going to seek the opinions of others.” Set yourself an hour to write a poem, write the best one you can, then show it to some trusted advisors (perhaps in a writers group). Write a short story in a week, and do the same. Write a novel in 6 months … You get it. Here’s another mindset to beat perfectionism: “This effort will be my best work, done quickly.”
3. Use External Deadlines
An external deadline like a contest, for instance, can provide a finish line for you. Creative writing is exciting partially because there is no limit to how good a project can be. However, this sense of limitlessness can be paralyzing if you are perfectionist. Beat this paralysis by aiming to finish a piece to the best of your ability by the deadline of a contest, then submit! You’ve already won by bringing the work to the highest quality you can in the time that you have. Perhaps set deadlines with friends, and submit work to each other by a certain date. Or join a writers group in which you take turns to submit something to the group each week or month. Deadlines!
4. Inspirational Thoughts
Sometimes we just need some inspirational thoughts. Here are some. Most great writers have a period of juvenalia in which they are practising their art before they get really good: Don’t worry about not being ‘the best’ right away. Most writers agree that first drafts are not usually wonderful: Trust in the editing process. Most writers have professional editors: Even the best need a trusted ally to help them polish their projects. Remember every journey begins with a single step: Just put one word in front of the other until you reach the desired word count – then share it with someone to get their opinion! Fortune favors the brave. Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid (Goethe). Commit yourself, then see what happens. If you write 170 words a day you will have a book by the end of the year. If you write three lines of poetry a day you will have over 1000 lines of poetry in a year: That’s many chapbooks. This above all: It is far more nobel and glorious to try and fail and never to try at all.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” (Beckett)
5. Dialogue: Get them talking
Make them talk! Sometimes if you can’t come with anything that feels original and exciting, it’s best just to let two of your characters talk, and see what they say! Let Jimmy tell Frank about the robbery he wants to commit. Let Alice tell Jan about her promotion. Let the President scold her chief of staff for the latest political disaster. Let your characters do all the work for you, and let them take on a life of their own!
6. What Should I Write About?
Writing is usually about conflict: Drama. Ernest Hemingway said the closest analogy for story he could think of was watching dogs race around a track after the same objective. A great writing exercise championed by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing is to have one character ask another character for money, and have the other character refuse to pay up. Here is the essence of drama: you watch one character attempt a variety of tactics to achieve their objective, and the other character use their own tactics to evade. Find the central source of conflict for a scene. Find what each of your characters wants in the scene, then depict them pursuing it. Remember, every character wants something.
7. Where Should I Set My Creative Writing?
Many authors, like Tim Winton, describe the way they start with a place, and almost discover the characters there, and then simply follow them on their journeys through the landscape. Having a very detailed understanding of the setting of your novel will give you lots of clues about how the character might operate in that world. Especially if the world starts impinging on their lives – think of any scene where characters are caught outside in the rain, or are caught deep inside Russian territory as the winter cold arrives!
8. Structure a Story Around a Problem
Think of a problem, and how your character might solve it. Take Breaking Bad for instance. Walter White is a down and out high school teacher with cancer and no way to pay his medical bills and support his family once he’s gone. How’s he going to solve that problem? By becoming the greatest drug baron in Northern America, that’s how! What’s an enormous problem that your characters need to solve? Now show them solving it.
9. Character Change / Development
Use character change or growth as an organizing principle for your writing. Name a profession: Carpenter. Now name a place that builder could end up: The President. Now describe that journey. The way the character changes can be a warning for the audience not to fall victim to some pitfalls, or it can be a guide to how to achieve great things.
10. The Hero’s Journey
Sometimes, studying narratology, or the structural elements inherent in storytelling can help to give us confidence, and direction (curing writer’s block). Here is how Wikipedia defines the organizing principle known as The Hero’s Journey: “In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero’s quest or hero’s journey, also known as the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed.” Click here to read more. Can you utilize this structure to give you a greater sense of confidence while writing your prose or poetry? Epic poems often fit a structure similar to this.
What are Some Specific Writing Prompts, or Cues, to Get Me Started?
- Write a story about a character trying to find meaning after an apocalypse has destroyed their world. One of the most enduring and popular modes is the post apocalyptic genre! Start writing about the things that make life worth living after an apocalypse.
- Write a story about an ordinary person who discovers they have magical powers. From Harry Potter to Star Wars, this prompt has led to some of the most highly praised stories ever written!
- Write a story about a person who is alone in an isolated place. Robinson Crusoe, the story of a man on a desert island, was so popular that it sparked its own genre of literature called the Robinsonade. Think of films like Cast Away. Wilson!
- Write a story about a piece of new technology that changes the world forever! Sci-Fi is usually about how technology can radically alter the human experience, and yet at the end of the day no matter where human beings find themselves, the core human emotional experience is still the same. Think about how warp drive, or light speed, altered the nature of human reality! This is a great story cue and concept.
- Write a story about the most important moment in history. Historical fiction is an enduring genre that is very popular, and often wins literary awards. Find the moment in history that interests you the most, and bring it to life for a whole new generation. Creative writing suggestions and provocations like this can come from anywhere, at any time. Keep a look out.
- Write a story about a love so powerful that it alters lives forever. Love and desire can be so fierce that lives are forever changed. Think Romeo and Juliet. What happens if you take this to the extreme? What is the fiercest love?
- Write a story about someone who will never give up until they get revenge. The revenge genre has been popular since the first stories were told, and these tales will never go out of style. From Hamlet, to Taken, find a character who has every right to seek revenge, and follow them on that journey! This is a powerful writing prompt: does it make you think of any any other cues to get you started? Story prompts can inspire other prompts to leap into your mind.
- Write a story that shows what growing up was really like for you! Many writers start in the coming of age genre, because it’s a great chance to get your own experience of life down on the page. No two people’s experiences are the same, and no two moments in history are the same, so don’t be afraid to tell your story.
- Write a story about an astonishing moment of beauty during a battle. From the earliest times (e.g. Homer) war stories have fascinated humankind. What we often most enjoy are the moments of beauty amongst all the horror, confirming that war portrays humanity at both its best and worst (check out the film Hacksaw Ridge).
- Write a story about the true impact of spying. Spy stories are riveting because of all the action and mystery they contain! But they also allow us to examine the human experience under extreme strain. Show us why a spy does what they do, and how it makes them feel.
The Letter Review Prize is open for submissions. Our writing contest is awarded every three months, with a total Prize pool of $4000 USD and publication for our winners. Up to 20 writers are Shortlisted in each category, and the winners are considered for submission to the Pushcart Prize and other prestigious anthologies. All entries are considered for publication. The categories are Short Fiction (up to 5000 words), Poetry (up to 70 lines), Nonfiction (up to 5000 words), & Unpublished Books (Novels, Story Collections, Poetry Collections, and Nonfiction).