Start Small

There's nothing worse than getting overwhelmed about writing--okay, maybe your car breaking down is worse or the plumbing backing up, but hopefully you get my drift.

  

What you want to do is to start small. I'm talking short stories here instead of novels, short articles over a nonfiction book, even a blog over an entirely mastered website.

  

Starting small does many things. It helps you to keep things in perspective. You want to write but you also have a job and and career at home that keeps you hopping. It helps you to finish a project on a daily or weekly basis, and it allows for growth.

  

Because you can't expect to be a best seller right away, you should also use this time to perfect your craft. Say you're pretty good at dialogue but your setting stinks. Maybe your great at details but your writing is all over the place and needs to be honed in and organized. Whatever you're good at, start small and focus on the writing you do well. The following day, focus on an area of writing that you need help with.

  

Fifteen minute writes allow you to record just what you want. Even if the stuff you begin with is crazy, you will find that as you continue to write more great stuff will pop up. And this great stuff can be used in the short pieces you will later write.

  

Starting small is like taking one bite out of a piece of chocolate cake. You know the entire piece, the entire cake, is sitting there waiting to be eaten, but you don't want to get sick, so you take one bite at a time.