You know the class in the beginning of the school day when the teacher told you to just read or write for thirty minutes? Do that with your writing. Start small (or for a short period of time.) Just like with any other endeavor, it takes a little time to gain momentum. Writing is no different. Even if you have the greatest of ideas, and you feel like it's going to come blowing out of your ass, you'll soon find out that it doesn't last long. Good story's take time. So yes, write down your original premises and all the parts of the story that come to you at that time then...let it breathe. Close the notebook, put the laptop away and find something else to do with the rest of your day, and come out to play tomorrow. But why Michael? Shouldn't I keep going? No. And here's why, you want to be excited to come back the next day. Example: Have you ever gone to the gym for the first time in a while? Once you pull yourself out of bed and get there you feel great. You push and you pull, and you run like nobody's business. You leave and you're on cloud nine wondering why you ever stopped, right? THEN...! The next day you feel like you got ran over by a truck. You have aches and pains and your so sore you can barely walk at to your car in the morning. Now, are you going back to the gym today? What about the next day or the next? Probably not. Same thing with writing. Some of my most brilliant story ideas (I think all my story ideas are brilliant *arrogant) never flushed out to a full draft because I wrote everything out in one session without giving it the time it deserved to develop in my mind. Harder is often not Smarter. Take your time, get thirty minutes of pure writing under your belt comfortably then an hour then two and next thing you know you'll achieve flow state, and you won't know where three hours went. The magic happens here. Next thing you know you have a first draft done. And that's what writing story is right? You can't have a beginning, and middle with no end.

That's always a tough question. What should my first story be about? Me? My best friend? The Abominable Snowman? The answer to this question is...(drum roll please) It doesn't matter. Nope it doesn't matter, why? Nobody is going to read it. Nobody. I started writing more than 15 years ago and even with some success in this space nobody has ever read my first or second or third...100th story and guess what? THANK GOD! Because they sucked, they all sucked at the very least they weren't sellable, they were hardly even legible. I wrote poems first on loose leaf printer paper, just my feelings about what I was going through at the time (remember my heart break.) And at that time that's all I wanted to say, that's all my creative muse was giving me. I was exploring without knowing I was exploring. I wasn't trying to be my idols, I wasn't trying to make my "masterpiece" BUT something was happening, something was forming and transforming me into what I had an inkling to be. AN ARTIST. A WRITER. My artist self was waking, then a book I read called "A Boy Called It" some time earlier flew into my present existence, and I wrote a scenario down. After that I wrote some more and some more and some more then next thing you knew this lonely kid went off to college against his mother's wishes and became best friends with the starting quarter back of school and found his first love and ya-ta, ya-ta, ya-ta...and bam my first screenplay! It had a beginning, middle and end with twists and turns and by the end of it I wondered how I even did it. (It's called "No More Mr. Nice Guy" if you care, you can listen to it on my podcast Dialogue Heavy) Folks you have something to say, you have things to contribute. Start small, start ugly, the point is to just start. Think about it and go...Before your rational brain tries to talk you out of it. What story ideas have you thrown away? Or better yet ones that you wanna tell but are embarrassed that no one will read? Reminder no Plagiarism in this community guys you're too amazing to try take another artist ideas.

Because you have to admit there is a level of narcissistic assurance one has to have to be new and think they will be successful in a profession filled to the brim with killers. FULL DISCLOSURE: To this day I can't read a good screenplay in one sitting without putting it down saying, "I should just quit now." No shit. They're good, and their work is good. That's why you're reading it. But it doesn't mean you quit. The ones that inspired you are mystical teachers beckoning you to what you can be in your own right if you follow your own path. So do that. FOLLOW YOUR PATH. I guarantee you none of your favorite writers were as good as they are now when they started, and they've been where you are. They had to be arrogant enough to walk their journey in the dark alone with distractions and naysayers. They survived and so will you. You earn arrogance and self-esteem through challenging work though so work first and all that other stuff you want will soon come. Keep writing. Keep refining. Be arrogant. Michael

Full disclosure, I CHEATED! I know, I know scumbag right? But I was 22 give me a break. Anyway the heart break came in the form of (drum roll please) Karma! That ex went on to date, THEN MARRY, THEN PARENT two kids with a childhood friend of mine. Boo-Hoo! 😭 So after much soul searching (and not physically harm anyone) I started to write poems, releasing demons, and pain and anguish and soon my love for storytelling started to connect with that and here we are. Don’t do what I did but answer this question: How did you start writing? Got anything juicy? Let us know! Also, introduce yourself and tell the new crew about your uniqueness. Michael