How To Start Writing

There is one question I hear new writers ask all the time: “How do I start?”

The truth is, there are a million and one ways to start writing a book. Whether you’re writing fiction, non-fiction, or a memoir about your life in the circus, you could virtually begin anywhere.

The question is, should you begin just anywhere?

When I describe writing a book to my clients, I often use a road trip analogy. 

“If you were about to set off on a long road trip,” I ask them, “let’s say across the country, where would you start?”

Usually, people say with a map. They’d plan their journey. Sensible.

Very few people say they would start in the middle, or look for a pit stop with good pancakes and a pool. Why? Because they haven’t even checked the map yet. They haven’t planned their route.

Writing a book is a lot like taking a cross-country road trip. It’s a journey. If you want to end up reaching your destination – and on time – you need to know how you’re going to get there. You need a road map, or preferably GPS navigation to guide you. 

So how do you create GPS navigation for your book?

What you don’t do is join writing critique groups.

You don’t go off and write eighty-six sonnets. 

You don’t obsess over your world, what your protagonist eats for breakfast, or what star sign your villain is. 

And you absolutely at all costs don’t go on a writing retreat.

I can hear you balking and you have a right to. After all, everything I just said goes against all conventional wisdom and pretty much all the writing advice that’s out there. But hang with me for a second. Think about it. All these things we are told to do as writers are distractions. They’re the equivalent of stopping off for milkshakes, pulling over to take selfies, and not being able to resist an afternoon at the local outlet mall. They sound fun because they are, but they won’t get you to where you’re going. They’re detours.

So what do you do instead?

You begin with a strategy.

Strategy takes focus. It takes discipline. It takes mastery. Just as there is a fastest route to your cross-country destination, there’s a fastest route to the end of your book too.

The strategy I teach new writers and that I used for both my #1 Amazon bestsellers is called the TAP Method. It stands for the three things every writer needs to know how to master before they start writing, before they start their journey.

Those three things are Time, Accountability, and Process.

Mastering these three things is the equivalent of having the best GPS navigation you could hope for. If you start with the TAP Method, you’ll not only get to your final destination, but you’ll get there faster and as an all around better writer.

I share the TAP Method in my book, The Writer's Success Code and you can get a copy for free here on my site, while it’s available.

Happy writing!

-A.M. xo

Originally published at https://www.ashleymansour.com on February 19, 2020.