One of the most common complaints I hear about writing: I dont know how to start! Dont worryyoure in good company.

When he was asked what the most frightening thing hed ever seen was, Ernest Hemingway purportedly said, A blank sheet of paper. So if you have trouble starting, know that youre not aloneand follow some of these steps to get the words working.

Freewriting

Freewriting is a great way to get right smack into the middle of things. Whether you know what you want to write about and dont know how to start, or if you have no idea what to write about at all, freewriting gives you a point of entry.

Give yourself five minutes and a blank sheet of paperyes, I want you to be old-school for this. Once youve started the timer, the trick is to keep writing no matter what. Even if you have nothing to write, write that. Just riff on whatever comes to mind on your topic: whether its good, bad, or ugly, get those thoughts out.

At the end of your first five minutes, look through what you wrote. Usually there will be some nugget of an idea there. Transcribe it and the other useful notes into your draft, and away you go!

Loop writing

Sometimes one round of freewriting wont do the trick. If thats the case, take one idea out of your first freewrite. Use it as your focus and write about it for another five-minute period. Out of these two, youll either have come up with a way to start, or youll have already started. If not, repeat the process. But take a break after your fourth go-around if nothings coming.

Listing

If youre not the write-for-five-minutes type, you really ought to try it. But listing your ideas is never a bad idea, either. If youve got a general idea, list the points you think would support it best. If you have no idea at all, well, start making a list of things youd like to write about. Be sure to save that list, even when youre ready to move on to the specific task, for your notions there will save you a step in the future.

Idea Mapping

Lets say youre a more visual person. What do you do? Idea Mapping might be your strategy. Start with a topic in the middle of a page, and all around it write your brainstorming ideas for five minutes. Its ok to use single words or two-word phrases during this part.

Once youve got your ideas out, spend a moment drawing lines between the ideas that connect. Some concepts will connect in two or three ways, which is just fine. Once you can see the relationships between your points, start tying them together on another page with full sentences.

Just Write

When youre having trouble beginning, its best to let yourself just write. Nothing will gum up your works more than constant editing and rewriting of that first sentence, so dont let yourself bog down. You can get to the editing and rewriting when youve got something substantial written down.

Aaron Nielsenshultz
http://www.redpepperwriting.com