How to Get into Writing

Concluding the series I have been working through on the basic value and incentives of writing, I figured I should offer some advice to those convinced to try out the craft on how to get started. Of course, there is no right answer here, and in reality I would encourage new writers to just write whatever comes to them, whatever they feel like writing, whatever feels natural. But for those who do are not struck by immediate inspiration yet would like to put pen to paper, there are a few simple exercises you can try and mentalities you can adopt. Basic exercises I like and would recommend include:

-Observational poetry of whatever form. This is a classic. Just look around your surroundings and describe them as artfully as you can. Don't stress the form or the quality (which I would advise for all the exercises I suggest here).

-Take a true story from your life, and tell it through writing. If you want to get more creative, twist it a bit to add an element of fiction.

-Do a brain dump in which you force yourself to write something, anything, for fifteen minutes, and as soon as you feel even remotely inspired by something that comes out of you, follow it.

-Write a new scene involving the characters from your favorite book/TV show/movie. You could also try emulating the style of the original writer.

-Write a poem about how you feel right now, emotionally or physically. Let it be as deep or surface-level as you want.

The biggest thing to keep in mind as you start out is that you are not going to be great, or always feel like the right words come easily. That takes practice, which you are going to need a lot of if you want to really get better. But for now, no need to commit to mastery of the craft. Just try and give yourself time to write for a few minutes every day, or even every other day or every third day, and watch yourself progress. I promise you, it will be beautiful.