“Every journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”

“Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.”
Confucius

Think of each step you write as a single incident, such as writing one paragraph, producing a character sketch or sketching a map of the location. It is a process of going through the layers.

The process of writing itself, even for very experienced writers, can be difficult and frustrating. The choices involved in creating the text, selecting appropriate words, arranging these words into meaningful sentences and using these sentences to explain a flow of fast moving ideas is hard work. Writing is a physical activity:

So take the first step…
Think what is it you want. Where you are now? Where do you want to go? What’s the first thing that you need to do to get moving? Don’t worry about making mistakes just get the story down on paper.

And keep taking steps….
Even if they feel like baby steps! We all have days where every step feels painful, or there is something else to do, or it’s just plain too difficult. This is the, ‘Don’t wanna’ tantrum. Go on, even if it’s something really easy, take that one step. Just open the file on your computer. It’s only a small step, but it proves your intent. After all, the files open now, you might as well do something with it.

And most importantly enjoy every step you take…
The psychotherapist and child psychologist Haim Ginott once said:

“Happiness… is not a destination: it is a manner of travelling.”

So have fun on your journey. Enjoy your writing and when you get there rather than moving straight to the next place, next goal, and next challenge, rest a while and glory in the fabulousness of what you have achieved.

But most importantly… Read it aloud and be proud of what you have written.