Begin Again and Again and Again

by Margie Senechal

Aspiring writers always ask a seasoned (if not published) writer how they begin their stories.

For me the answer is, "I just do."

You have to begin somewhere. Most of the time it won't be where your story really begins but that's another problem for another day. Today, you just need to sit down, and put words on a blank page.

I usually (always) begin my story without any plotting and a lot of the time (always) it's with dialogue because that's where my characters begin and end.

With Bix, I was driving in my car by myself and just before I got home--yes, I remember exactly where I was when I heard his voice. I had turned off Mill Plain into the short-cut Garrison neighborhood when he said, "If another person tells me I'll appreciate my youthful looks when I'm forty, I'm going to rip off their head and piss down their neck."

And I thought, "Whoa, what's his story?" I also kept repeating his words in the two blocks I drove to get home and then immediately wrote them down. His plot would come later after much trial and error--and some 300K+ words and nine rewrites. But, again, I digress.

With Suitcases, I was walking through the suitcase aisle at Burlington--where I worked at the time--and I heard Ana, "I could collect suitcases like other women collect purses. Except I never go anywhere." 

Why couldn't she go anywhere? What was her story? Thankfully, I'm closing in on her journey and maybe someday you'll get the chance to read it. LOL

So, how do I begin a story? I just write. I sit down and start with a line of dialogue, a bit of action, or the intro of the character. It doesn't matter how you begin, only that begin and keep writing. 

I have a myriad of characters lolling around in my brain and can call them up at almost any time. I have begun more stories that I can count--some will become worthy of finishing and some will wither away in the files of Microsoft. That doesn't make them bad but simply stepping stones on my journey toward publication.

So, there you go Wrangler readers--that's my piece of advice this month. Sit your butt in a chair and write your first line. Soon you'll have a page and a second one. It doesn't matter if they're good, bad, or ugly. As Nora Roberts is famous for saying, "You can't edit a blank page."

Go forth and muddy up some blank pages and have a great weekend!