So You Want to Be a Writer?

How to begin writing stuff

Portrait from the Smithsonian Open Access, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

I sit in a coffee shop, ironically sipping a Diet Pepsi instead of coffee. Pen in hand, notebook open, I await my muse.

Here she comes—book in hand, stopping at my table.

“What are you doing? Are you a writer or something? I always wanted to write a story of…”

If I had a dollar for every time someone said, “I’m thinking about writing a book,” I’d be rich enough to never work again. (It used to be a nickel, then a dime—maybe two bits. Thanks, inflation.)

Everyone has a story to tell.
Very few actually start writing it—whether it’s a memoir, a family history, or a novel.
Fewer still see it through to the end.

“I don’t know how to get started,” they say.

That’s an excuse.

You don’t need a fancy computer, a leather-bound notebook, or a pen made from unicorn horn.
You can use your phone. Jot notes, send yourself an email, record voice memos.
Just get your thoughts down.
Spelling, grammar, editing—that all comes later.

Today, I’m giving you a writing prompt. (Why buy an entire book when I’m free?)

Let’s start simple: Jack and Jill went up a hill.

Now ask questions. That might be the scientist in me talking.

What does the hill look like? Rocky? Grassy? A gentle slope or a rugged climb? Trees?

What’s the weather—windy, snowy, rainy, sunny?

Who are Jack and Jill? Young lovers? Bitter rivals? Siblings dragging a wagon?

Is one chasing the other? Are they carrying a picnic basket… or an axe?

Is it morning? Night? Maybe they’re carrying a telescope and plan to be the first to greet the aliens.

You get the idea.

Let’s say Jack and Jill are in love—but their families are enemies. So they join hands and leap off a cliff.

Okay, that’s a little too Shakespearean. But it’s still a story.

If you want to be a writer—then write.

Will you make mistakes? Absolutely.

I still remember the first abstract I submitted in graduate school—my professor slashed through nearly every word with a red pen. Brutal.

Still don’t know what to write about? Jack and Jill too childish? Want something… more?

Want to change the world? Be a bestselling author—not just a bestselling author, the bestselling author?

Well, dear reader:
Every single bestselling book, novel, treatise, short story, letter to the editor—even a letter home—began as a blank page.

Then, an opening sentence:

“Call me Ishmael.” – Moby-Dick, Herman Melville

“All this happened, more or less.” – Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut

“Marley was dead, to begin with.” – A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

“I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army.” – Old Man’s War, John Scalzi

“Start here.” – Your Title, Your Name

Just do it! There is no ‘write’ or wrong.

You believe your ideas are too silly?

Really?

How about “When the Yogurt Took Over” by John Scalzi?

You can read it here: Scalzi’s Story

Netflix even adapted it for the Love, Death and Robots series.

That’s enough from an old man—new to writing, but not to stories.

Thanks for reading.

Now write.

The world awaits your words—words that could inspire love, world peace, harmony, revolutionary inventions…

Write something as famous as Abraham Lincoln’s 272 words of the Gettysburg Address. Or maybe just bring a smile to someone’s face with a poem or limerick.