How to write your first one hundred words

Joseph Epstein, an American writer says,

“81 percent of Americans feel that they have a book in them — and should write it.”

How many people (not only Americans) actually follow through on their dream and write their book? What is stopping them?

The first one hundred words

The first one hundred words are by far the hardest to write. It doesn’t matter what they are for — whether they are for your book (fiction or non-fiction), your blog, a post on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, even a report or in your journal. These first words are where most people give up, before they even properly begin. What is it about starting a piece of writing that is so difficult?

The first sentence

It’s got to be perfect, right? A hook, so that people will want to keep reading. Something interesting. Everyone is so busy these days, your first sentence has to be completely on point. Many writers spend ages crafting their first sentence. They write it and refine it and get distracted.

Top tips for the first sentence

•  Lead with a relevant piece of data.
• Use a personal experience or anecdote.
• Tell half the story.
• Make it shocking.

You want your reader to continue beyond your first sentence. Write it so it is interesting, so that it grabs attention. But don’t spend hours on it, making it perfect. Editing your writing as you go moves you from your creative brain into your analytical brain and will make it difficult to get back into your flow.

 Just start

Every writer starts somewhere, right? The difference between an author and a failed author is in the planning. If you want to be a writer, you actually have to write. You can’t be a gardener who doesn’t have dirt under their fingernails or a baker who has never made a cake. A writer — an author — writes.

 Making it easier

It’s easy to come up with a list of why the words won’t come.  

?? Writer’s block.

? No time.

?? I’ve got to actually do work to make some money.

?? I’m not inspired.

?? I’ve got no focus.

???♀? I don’t know what to write about.

Ooh, what’s that notification, email, dirty mark on the window that I’ve not washed in eight months but now is the perfect time to do it.

How can you set yourself up for success when it comes to writing?

Sit down to do the work 

You’re not going to write any words at all, let alone the first one hundred, if you don’t actually sit down to write them. Make a time every week when you sit down to write. Do you write best in the middle of the day, in the early mornings or the evenings? At the start of the week or when you’ve completed your urgent tasks for the week? On the weekend? Some people are daily writers – they like the discipline of writing at a certain time every day. Some people are weekly or even monthly writers. Work out the type of person you are and schedule the time, make the habit. Then honour yourself and your commitment and follow through.

Choose your environment

Choose a place without distraction. If you write on the kitchen table, make sure that you aren’t finding yourself getting up to wash the dishes or put on the laundry. It is so easy to be distracted, especially when you feel uninspired or that things are not going well. Maybe you would find that you’d write more if you went to a coffee shop for an hour or two. Perhaps consider taking yourself off on a mini writer’s retreat each month where someone can bring you food and coffee and you sit somewhere writing for the whole day. If you sit down at your desk to write, close down your email and your social media notifications and put your phone onto airplane mode for the time you are writing. You will get the first one hundred words written if you are focussed and not distracted. 

Write with others

You know the café near you where people go to work. Go there to write. Or join a writer’s group or an online writing accountability space. I hold space for writers to write each week in my ??Write Now?? writing sessions. #teamnightowl write with me on Zoom for two hours on Monday evenings (British Standard time), #teaminbetweeners on Tuesdays in the middle of the day and #teamearlybird are up with the sun at 6 am. I’ve been running these groups since February after observing that my 1:1 clients were finding it difficult to make progress on their manuscripts because they weren’t making time in their week to write. Now all sorts of people join me to write in these sessions – people journaling, writing ebooks, writing manuscripts, writing essays, writing journal articles, writing social media posts. Each week, these people are coming together to write together and nailing their intentions and word counts. Writing with others is powerful stuff.

And together we’ve written over a quarter of a million words since February.

If you want to write with me, go and check out https://mailchi.mp/c7d91987d933/writenow for more information.

 Know what you want to write

Sometimes a lack of inspiration and focus comes when you sit down to write and you don’t know what you are writing about. Before you start writing, make a plan. If it is a book, this might take some time! (more on that in another blog) but even if you are writing a shorter piece for social media or your website, it’s helpful to know the following:

• Who am I writing this piece for?
• Where am I publishing it?
• How many words am I intending to write?
• What does this piece of writing need to cover?
• What do I want this piece of writing to achieve for me?

You don’t have to write loads but knowing the answers to these questions can keep you focused, inspired and on track to complete your piece of writing.

Take the next step

What do you have to change to make writing the first one hundred words easier for you?

Do you have to make a plan or a habit, focus in on your intentions, step away from distractions?

#firstonehundredwords

I’m on a mission to inspire more people to start writing—whatever it is that they are writing. I want to gather together a community of action-takers, of change-makers.

I want to see your first one hundred words.

It doesn’t matter if it is a hundred words of a social media post, a blog, a chapter of your book (non-fiction and fiction), your poetry, your journal entry – these one hundred words are your words, written your way. 

 You are invited to post on your favourite social media channels using the hashtag #firstonehundredwords

Tag me on:

LinkedIn https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/writenowwitherinchamberlain/ (Erin Chamberlain)

Instagram @writenowwitherinchamberlain

Facebook @writenowwitherinchamberlain or @erinchamberlain

and I’ll share your post with my network.

Let’s write together.

Show me your #firstonehundredwords