I often say to myself that the first rule of writing is to write.

I say that when I don't feel like writing or want to write, but not sure what to write or how to start.

'Ok, so write. The first rule of writing is to write, so write.' And I do.

I write whatever comes into my head, like morning pages, and soon I get in the groove of what I want to say and it gets easier.

And there's always the delete button so I can edit the rambly stuff later.

This month I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the first time. I've wanted to do it for years, but haven't actually taken the plunge. This year is it. I've started. I'm going for it.

I have a co-worker friend who is doing it as well (She's the one who mentioned it and urged me to do it. We can encourage each other!) and this past Monday (Nov 1st) she asked me how I was doing with it, though we had a just started, and I said I was feeling stressed about it. It's supposed to be fun, so why am I stressed??

I think one of the reasons I felt stressed was because I was writing, yes, but I was just finding the story...I didn't have any outline or plot or anything...just some scenes in my head that I was trying to get out that were cool, but didn't really go anywhere.

My friend said that she had taken the night before and outlined a brief scene synopsis and plot line to help move the story along. Oh, good idea. I need to do that.

I told my husband that later and he was like, 'So she Storyboarded it'.

Oh, yeah...of course. Why didn't I think of that?

I don't consider myself a fiction writer, although I love reading it. Writing it is challenging for me.

So later that night I took an hour or so to write out a scene synoposis and, OMG, people, that made all the difference.

I took a scene idea and just started writing and BAM, magic (Ok, I still struggle, so maybe not magic, but better than it was).

So...the second rule of writing?

Create a storyboard or scene synoposis.

I don't think I'd try to start a fictional story again without one. I've learned.

I know the second 'rule' sounds super-duper obvious, but sometimes I need things pointed out to me.

First rule of writing: Write.

Second Rule? Create a storyboard/scene synoposis.

There you have it folks. That one's for free.

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