Professional story writers do not have a magic secret that no one else has. Rather, professional writers merely understand that in order to be a writer, you have to write every . . . single . . . day. Some days, this means trying to begin again, only now beginning where you last left off. Some days, you will not have inspiration at all. Yet, if you do the right preparation and you keep writing a daily habit, then writing will be fun.

Do you brush your teeth every day? Do you eat every day? Do you sleep every night? Do you walk outside – even if it’s just to your car – every day? Do you change every day?

These questions should be equal to a writer with the question: Do you write every day? Granted, there will be those erroneous day when you will not have time to put any words onto paper. Yet, this should be rare. In order to be a great storyteller with the written word, you need to write every day.

There’s a lot more that separates good storytelling from bad storytelling. But the first principal point is: Writer’s write.

So, how do you begin a story?

There are many things you have to do to prepare yourself for storytelling. One of them, though, is to figure out a schedule of days you will be able to dedicate more time and days you will be able to dedicate less time to writing. The point is to write every single day six days a week. Some days, you will only be able to spend ten minutes writing. Some days, you will only be able to write a few lines of dialogue. That’s okay. The trick is then to force yourself to write for an hour or so on other days.

Your fellow writer,

Joshua Reynolds