I don't get it...

casper leblanc

I work as a journalist so I write for a living, I usually have good ideas, I have a decent way with words and I'm pretty creative. My g/f says I definitely should consider writing a book.

Yet I can't do it... I wouldn't even know where to start or what to write about. I'd suck at fiction. Prose just isn't my thing I guess. Could it be because I've never been a reader? Maybe... Guess I can only pin down someone else's beauty and talent in my interviews or stories, not my own...

Being Enlightened

Maybe you could write an auto-biography.

Or just start with some short stories, I'm sure you can think of a little something so that you can use your creative jucies to fill up at least a few pages.

Get a basic idea of something that you want to write about, that could be your start, and just work from there.

It seems that you really want to do this, so, I hope that you find some inspiration and are able to get a start and just let it flow from there!

casper leblanc

Thanks... self-confidence is a big part in this as well.

Writing a book could be awesome for my career... Here in Belgium, when you write a book, suddenly every magazine or newspaper wants yo to write a column. An average, decent journalist like myself wil never be taken into account for that.

And yes, I really would like to write a book someday

even flow?

Start with a little novelette on your trip to New York. If you are still going? Throw in some spice and you should have yourself writing a little longer and a little longer in no time.

casper leblanc

I'm still going Nervous though...

even flow?

Originally posted by pearlwax
I'm still going Nervous though...

Like I said: keep a little journal. Start writing about how you are nervous and keep it running. Change your name, add some spice and voila. You just never know.

seekit

you should write on something you love or something you have passion about, something to share.....your writing can be so strong if you are intimate with the subject, so to speak..
think about it....

justam

Why don't you write a non-fiction book? It could be about anything you are interested in. You just have to do a lot of research and then focus it somehow.

FinsburyParkCarrots

I think evenflow?'s suggestion of keeping a journal is very useful. An artist will keep a sketchpad and collate as many images as possible before starting to shape their work into preliminary sketches, which may or may not develop into a finished, large-scale work.
Henry James used to say that one won't find a good novel from formulating a narrative sequence and fleshing it out with characters and setting.
I can only suggest: One should start with trying to write about what it's like to think, to feel, to doubt, to question, as a conscious being, in relation to specific day-to-day occurrences. If you create a protagonist and imagine how he or she thinks, then experiment to see how they might react to a particular situation, then you're beginning to emplot a story in which that character will live.

casper leblanc

Originally posted by FinsburyParkCarrots
One should start with trying to write about what it's like to think, to feel, to doubt, to question, as a conscious being, in relation to specific day-to-day occurrences.

So you want me to have a nervous breakdown? That's sorta the problem I think. I can't put those things into words. The fact that my girlfriend is a pretty hardcore psychologist kinda takes the fun out of that process anyway.

But seriously, great tips guys, thanks