Go Jump in the Lake

Go Jump in the Lake

Many writers find themselves stopped before their first sentence by the question, “Where should I begin?” The problem with that question is that while there are right and wrong places for a piece of writing to begin, it’s backward to assume you’ll figure out where that place is before you’ve written the piece.

It’s like ordering that belly-buster ice cream sundae and watching it melt while trying to decide which bite to take first. When you’re writing to find out what you have to say, you have to eat the whole bowl. It doesn’t matter where you start.

If you have to clean your room, does it matter if you start at the door and work your way over to the window, or start by making the bed and then tackle the floor? Not at all—in the end, it only matters that you get to everything. In the same way, when you’re writing a rough draft, it only matters that you get the whole story down, not that you get it down in the best order.

So how do you start writing? You start wherever or whenever within your story you think of first. If that’s the beginning, start at the beginning. If that’s the end, start at the end, and follow your train of thought gradually back into the earlier parts of the story. If it’s somewhere in the middle, just start writing. As you go, you’ll naturally find yourself backtracking to explain yourself or jumping ahead to conclusions you made. Put it all down.

If you’re lucky enough to be summering or vacationing on a lake, are you paralyzed pondering the best spot to run into that lake? I hope not. The sun is shining, the lake is waiting, and you run. Wherever you end up is a good place to end up. And once you’re in there, you can look around, find your friends or your favorite dock, and swim to them.

So another excuse for not beginning just joined the junk heap. Don’t tell me you don’t know where to begin. Because I’m going to tell you, Go jump in the lake!