Hello Again OTF! MTabek here for the Writer's Guild. I have decided after much thought to try a sort of serialized type of article to be found here in the Tribune. This space I thought could be well made to help all aspiring writers get that good foothold which always seems to be the hardest thing to find. Thus we begin.

Once in a while I might also put in some quotes from what I believe to be the best book written on Creative Writing...Bird by Birdby Anne Lamont. But I shall go on nothing but my own 'wisdom' here, hehe :)

Now, every story must begin somewhere. I know all of you know what Im talking about too. The dreaded idea! Yes indeed, every story, believe it or not, actually has to be about something. We call this...dun dun dun...the plot! What, you knew that already? Oh...right. So did I...really. ;) Still, the hardest part is actually coming up with something good.

Ah ha, there's the rub. Every person will believe 'good' in their own way. That means that when you come up with an idea. Make sure you like it! Write from your heart. You know all that you need already. Infuse your story with love, humour, terror, whatever you wish. But be forewarned. A writer always is looking about him. Life is his mirror, you must watch everything and everyone around you to garner and learn all you can about human nature.

In this way you can write believeable characters, but that will be a topic for another time.

In your story you have to have something at stake. Be it a love to an evil prince, or a hero that has to save a village, to even having the most unlikely person imaginable to save an entire world of races. Most importantly though, we have to believe that these people can do this. Once you have something good that needs to be saved or discovered...then, and only then, can the rest follow. Usually these elements (like characters, setting, dialouge,etc) will all come with time as you write the story. I am a strong advocate to the story writing the characters and their actions, not the other way around.

Well next time I shall delve into what is, for me, the toughest part of all - Characterization! Until then, Keep those pencils sharp and your fingers nimble, for you never know when inspiration might strike!