Five ‘W’s of storytelling

Where – Makes no difference where you write – wherever you can work is perfect. Personally, I like quiet. I usually can’t concentrate with music or much background noise.
Having said that, I managed to ‘zone out’ everything around me if my Muse speaks clearly enough.

When – Whenever you can would be my answer to this, although, if you can set out a block of time in which to do nothing but write, that would be perfect. No distractions, no ‘things to do’ before you settle down, just get your arse on that chair and write. An hour or five minutes, as long as you write, that’s all that matters!

If you need to research, do that, but try to set aside a different time for research, otherwise you’ll eat into your Writing Time and you’ll find that researching can take way longer than you anticipate because – well… everything leads to cat gifs, doesn’t it.

My ‘research’ cupboard.

What – That’s a conundrum. What shall I write about…? I can wrack my brain for days or something will crop up as I’m getting dressed in a morning and I can’t wait to write it down. Here’s a tip – don’t wait to write it down, you’ll forget it. I have notebooks strewn all over the place just in case I get an idea.

Yes, this is staged… or is it?

Who – Who? Well I know it’s going to be YOU doing the writing, but who do you write about? Or put it another way - who comes across as the narrator, the teller of the story? Which perspective does the story follow?
I can’t tell you that, but pick one – and only one – and stick to it. Head-hopping from person to person, perspective to perspective doesn’t work. Your readers will get confused and your story will suffer.

The last W is, of course, Write.

Computer/laptop, word processor, pen, crayon, quill or chalk – whatever you use, whatever you prefer, just pick it up and start writing. Do it now.

Just some of my notebooks

I can tell you from my perspective, I can help you if you want help but the thing I cannot do is write it for you. Your story, your words, your experiences – you must write that before anyone else can read your stories.

I can help with editing, I can help with structure, storyline, character development and continuity but I can’t edit a blank page and neither can you.

Write it.

Even if you have a target of 300 words a day, 300 is better than none.

Just Write it.