First "official" episode shall be writing advice since a few people did ask. Let us begin with a question that I'm asked or told about fairly frequently;

I want to begin my writing journey, but I don't know where to begin. Any advice?

This is tough since my immediate questions are; do you already have characters? A plot? A setting? At least a general idea of what you wanna do? If not then, well, that’s where you start.

You do not need everything in order to start writing. You simply need something.

As some of you may already know, I wrote the first ten chapters of Speak the Truth with only one thing in mind; enemies to lovers (the superior trope, fight me.) I dove in head first with that thought in mind; ok, let’s have a bratty prince with a superiority complex and a stubborn, rude classmate that is secretly as immature as he is. And I kept writing, uncaring if things were incorrect or didn’t make sense because I knew I was going to edit later, and I did!

(Did I edit well? Now that is another question entirely! Ah, youth, my inexperience as a writer with a very sudden change in audience. Oh boy, will this turn into another blog? Probably.)

Some of you may have a setting, an idea of a world and the lore, or a magical system or a general plot idea, roll with that! Throw random characters in, see how they react and you may end up really liking them or you’ll realize, ah, this person won’t work as a main character. Another possibility is fan fiction. If you haven’t created characters yet, use characters that have already been created. I wrote InuYasha fan fiction when I was younger (which I am grateful was all hand written and has been thrown in the trash where it belongs so no one will ever, ever read it.)

Now let’s say it’s the opposite and you have characters, but nothing else. You have your MC completely imagined, know their personality and their backstory. Ok, what kind of story works with their past, who they were, who they are, and who you want them to become?

Let’s use Aron as an example since Speak the Truth is the most likely story most of you read. Aron is someone who struggles with the reality that he is a prince, that he will never have a “normal” life and so he lashes out because he has no idea how to cope with his frustrations. This is something that built over time through his childhood where he was constantly reminded of his position and the connotations behind it (such as needing to be the prince that wants a princess or having to be mature, although he’s a child and, wow, early comments only prove this point lol)

Ok, so I know his past that led to his present, now what is his future?

I wanted Aron to grow up, to experience life, to see his wrong doings, make some more mistakes as we all do and become a better person. What sort of plot works with that character development? What can happen in the plot that will lead him down this path?

There’s no correct answer to those questions because there are plenty of different routes I could have taken. The same goes for you when writing. There are endless roads to take. You just have to pick the one that’s smoothest or of most interest to you because of this piece of advice that is the best I’ve ever read; write what you want to read.

That’s it. That’s the key.

Sometimes I include tropes or take paths in my own stories purely because I know they are popular and will garner an audience, however, I do my damn best to make sure I also like them, whether I manipulate them later to be a bit more original or I make them less toxic. Unfortunately, a lot of popular story tropes are toxic.

*cough*I’m looking at you “omg I just love you so much that I couldn’t control my feelings and assaulted you, but, please, I’m actually sooooo nice and I’m totally not gaslighting the person I made a victim” trope*hacks up lung*

Oh whoa, that was a nasty cough, anyone got a cough drop?

But let’s make this a topic for another day where we can discuss tropes. I’ve written plenty of bad ones myself, not saying I haven’t, but eventually we gotta stand up and try to fix issues while still enjoying tropes. You can absolutely adore something and try to fix what is wrong with it at the same time. I know, shocking, right?

MOVING ON THOUGH!

There are a million and one different ways to begin writing. Each person is different so you really need to find what works for you. Some of us are planners, some of us are chaotic beings that jump into the void with nothing but pure will. Some of us are a little bit of both (hi, that’s me.)

If you feel having an outline of the plot and every chapter will work for you, go for it. If you plan only a little and wing it the rest of the way, do it. If you rather jump in with no ideas, go for it (but I do suggest keeping track of stuff somewhere so you can make sure all the information is correct later.) Whatever works best for you.

There’s a lot of experimentation with writing. Hell, I used to be pure chaotic and jump in with absolutely no clue what I was doing or where I was going. Now I’m more of a planner with the occasional need to throw planning to the wind. You’ll probably change too as you write.

Don’t feel too pressured, especially with your first stories. Don’t be scared to mention that it’s your first story too. Try to have a fun first experience. Be open to criticism, but also know when someone takes it too far or hides cruelty within criticism. Unfortunately, being a writer means that many believe you are their punching bag and they can say whatever they wish under the excuse of criticism. Nah, don’t take that shit. Put your foot down. If they want you to learn how to write then they need to learn how to critique.

I know that this advice was kind of all over place and essentially comes down to; JUST DO IT! (if you didn’t think of Shia LaBeouf while reading that then we can’t be friends)

But that’s it. Seriously. Write.

You don’t need a destination or have any idea what the journey will be. You simply have to start somewhere.

I hope this helped and if you’re interested in more writing advice from this shitty advice giver (idk why, but what up, I’ll give it another try) then feel free to ask some questions below.

Until next time, toodles~