I started writing short stories when I was about 7 or 8. I would write stories about fairies and dinosaurs to give as gifts to my little siblings (I was horrible at crafts then). I would even illustrate them with little doodles that only semi resembled animals. 

Reading and telling stories has always been a part of me. When I was four I begged my mom to teach me how to read. Being able to jump into a new world and have adventures that I would never be able to have here on earth fascinated me. My favorite genre to read or write has always been fantasy. With fantasy you can do anything!! Wanna make a man grow rabbit years? Explain it by magic. Wanna give a spider a cat tail? Explain it by magic. Fantasy gives you a chance to express yourself in ways you didn't know possible. Fire can shoot from someone's hands or ice daggers from their eyes. While all the other genres are great, fantasy is the easiest to start with. 

Starting your story.

Here are a few tips before you dive into your writing

1. Never give your book a name before it is complete. When you do that you limit yourself. You can give it a temp name of necessary, but even that is not advised.

2. When your story is in progress only sure it with a few trusted family members/friends. While constructive criticism is useful, to much can not only be hard to deal with and no longer helpful. 

3. Don't limit yourself to one story plot. You come into it with one idea and by the time you hit the middle you want to do something entirely different.

4. Save everything you write!! I wish that I had heard that price of advice earlier. Not only will it be nice to look back on how much your writing has grown but your old writing may spark ideas for you current projects.

5. It's okay for you to start with the ending of your brain won't come up with a beginning. 

Now to begin. Don't be afraid to be yourself. It's your writing. Not your mom's. Not your dad's. Not your best friends. Yours. You do you. Wanna write something completely wild that changes everything we know and love? Do it. Wanna write non fiction and stick with the facts? Do it. If it scares the living day lights out of you? You already know what I am going to say, do it.

If you are terrified of jumping straight from short stories to novels then do what I did,collaborate with a writer friend. Each of you can be in charge of a section of chapter that you put together in the end. Or you could do the pass around tactic. You write a chapter and then your friend does. Either way works.

 Getting through brain blocks.

Have you ever had a while bunch of ideas jumbled together that you can't separate in order to write down? Or you were struggling with the complete opposite and you couldn't come up with anything? Here are my tips and tricks for getting through those brain blocks.

First we will deal with too many ideas. If you have ever had like 13 different plots fighting in your head begging for attention then you know that the struggle is real. These five easy steps should help you out.

1. Pull up Google docs (or other trusted site) or find your trusty writing notebook. 

2. Briefly write out each and every plot that is yearning for the spotlight.

3. Let your bestest of friends look over your list.

4. You each choose your favorite for the list.

5. Take the list to a parent or teacher and have them choose the best of the two.

Now, what do we do when instead of an abundance of ideas we fall down flat?  Here are five tips and tricks.

1. Carry a notebook with you evrywhere. You never know when an idea might hit!

2. Pay attention to the people you see when you see when you are out and about. This man's hat and that woman's way of speaking might spark the idea for a character.

3. Take elements from several of your favorite books and movies. Try to use those for your own writings. 

4. Think about the people you know. What makes them interesting?

5. Think about animals. What would the world be like through their perspective?

Editing your story.

Once your book is complete it is time for the most tedious part of writing. Editing. You have to read over and pick apart your story time and time again. when I was editing the last novel that my friend and I wrote I thought that it would take forvever. We each read the story and made changes. The we each had our mom's read the story and gives us their thoughts, which brought more changes. Then when we brought in a language art teacher their were a million more changes to make. Finally we each read over it one more time to complete our editing process.  There are many different strategies that you could take to edit your story. Choose which way may be best for you. 

Here are my last few thoughts. 

1. If you have a passage of the book that needs to be deleted (wether you like it or not) save it. With some changes it could become a scene in your next novel. Or maybe you could write a sequel book that features that deleted passage. Or it could even become the start of a short story. 

2. What about publishing? Amazon kindle offers great opportunities for self publishing a book. In fact, watch out for a book there that my friend and I wrote that may be published by 2021-2022!

3. Share your story with everyone you know. Getting the opinion of others will more often than not encourage to keep writing, and you will get to share your words with those you love. 

Extras:

My top two favorite books about writing for kids/teens:

Writer to Writer:From Think to Ink- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21873177-writer-to-writer

Writing Magic:Creating Stories That Fly-https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136218.Writing_Magic

I highly recommend this blog by one of my favorite professional writers for great info: https://gailcarsonlevine.com/blog

I would love to get to know you!! Have something you would like me to discuss? have questions? Contact me through my email address: impossiblegirl2020@gmail.com