If you are anything like me, the opening paragraph is often the hardest part. But I’m here to tell you you needn’t worry: you can save it til the very end, if that makes you feel better or lessens the anxiety of beginning.

If you are too overwhelmed or uncertain with how to begin at the beginning, start with a scene where you are comfortable, or that sets your heart on fire – one that is burning to be told.

If the action or dialogue has been playing in your head, start with that, and run with it. There are no rules on how to get the story down, just as long as you get the story down.

Picking up scenes willy-nilly is definitely easier if you have some kind of outline in place, so that you have a better idea of where you are in the storyline in relation to knowledge earned, or characters met, but this is the fun of writing. No matter what we write in that first draft, it will be rewritten.

So no matter where you are in your preparations or your outline or your path as a writer, the most important thing is to just get the ideas on paper.

Start where you are; use what you have; do what you can. You can tie it all together later, for now, let the ideas come out of you as best they can.