One Keystroke at a Time

The first word is the hardest one

Non-writers, and even some writers, think the hardest part of writing is imagining the story you want to write. They’re wrong. The hardest part of writing anything - a story, an article, a party invitation, or even an obituary - is typing that first sentence. Sometimes you get it bang on, first try. Other times, you delete and rewrite it so many times you forget what you are writing. Trust me. I’ve done it. More than once.

On this article, if I’m completely honest. Took me three tries to start it out the way I wanted to. And three more to get the first paragraph finished. I think it’s gonna be a looooong day.

Ideas pop into your head constantly. In line at the grocery store. Headlines on news articles or magazines. Overheard conversations while on the treadmill at the gym… or at the park with the kids. Inspiration is everywhere, in any situation. The story begging to be built around that inspiration is the issue, not the inspiration itself.

So, this is where I come in. No, not to give you some earth-shattering advice on how to outline a story idea. Or to build a chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene storyboard for your story. Not at all.

This is where I tell you the one thing I hope you never forget. The piece of advice that comes to mind when you least expect it and flashes like a video-billboard in Times Square.

Write.

Write your idea down. Everything that pops into your mind around the idea needs to be recorded. Somewhere. Somehow.

You want to use point form notes? Great, get the idea on a page somewhere.

You prefer to sketch the idea out with a paper and pencil? Awesome, put the idea into a visual showing you where you want the story to go.

Long descriptions about the characters and everything about them help you remember the story best? Fantastic. Write them all out, long hand if that’s what floats your fanny down the Ganny.

You got the gist of this yet? I hope so. I’m running out of analogies to drive it all home. Maybe.

That grenade full of intense dialogue lobbed at your head by the characters demanding a voice pushed you to record their conversations, with little side notes of context? Perfect. Now they can shut up and leave you alone. They won’t, but they can.

There is not one writer in the world who will tell you that their books and stories are products of watching the latest season of Survivor. They may get inspiration from it, but the stories are products of getting their words down for posterity. Their books and stories come from putting pen to paper, and fingers to keyboards, and writing them down.

It is the only way to get your ideas and stories out to your readers. No one can pop into your head and flip through the pages of your mind to see what you want to say. It’d be nice, and far easier some days, but that’s not how it works. The only way it works is to write it out. Somehow. Some way.

Even if those who extol the virtues of AI-written works try to convince you otherwise. Every writer struggles to find the right words to describe what they see in their mind’s eye. Sometimes it’s as easy as putting your fingertips on the keyboard, or picking up a pen… and sometimes it’s as easy as wading through mud while carrying a hippo across your shoulders. But, either way, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

The words, they are sometimes elusive - too elusive - but picking away at it until you find the perfect way to say what you are trying to say is the best reward ever. Only thing that ever came close is watching my children grow into the loving, fun, kind, and compassionate adults they are meant to be.

And the problem with using AI to do the writing for you is that it is not genuine writing. It takes its inspiration from written works online. From other writers. Writers who put their heart and soul into the words they put out into the universe. That’s what makes using AI-driven writing so damaging. It goes from a writing tool to differing degrees of plagiarism.

When inspiration hits you, and you want to get that story - the one that just will not shut up - out of your head, remember that your words are powerful. You have a writing voice that is unique to you and no one has the right to take that away from you.

Not AI, not an editor, not critics… no one has the right to silence your voice. Not even you have that right. You have the power to silence your voice, but you have to be prepared for the consequences if you do.

Those characters, their stories, need to be heard. Written. Shared. Sent out to the universe, so they can reach those who need them the most. Let them shine. You, and your characters, deserve it.

So… write that first word. It just might be the most important one you write this year.