I Wanna' Write =(

[Deo]

Originally posted by Android 14
Gokua, as long as you know what it is that you want to write about you will find out for yourself just how it is that you want to write that. To make that seem a little bit less confusing, the first step to actually writing something is knowing the idea, the topic, the theme or whatever you want to call it, and then figure out (through some actual decision making or just discovering it on the way) how you are going to go about it. The mere fact that you've sat down and said "I want to write about a bunch of high school students, doing drugs, and their individual personal problems" is more than enough to start yourself off. Just go and start writing about it. The more familiar you are with what you're writing about, the better off you'll be when it comes to actually pumping out some serious writing.

Also, don't fret about the idea of getting it published, or people reading it. To be frank, actually being able to complete a full sized novel and read it yourself, give it to your friends and family, etc, is more than enough of a reason to write it. Getting it published is one step up- a big step mind you... It's bloody hard to get a novel published. Making any money off a book is just a sign that people have actually read it. Having people read your work, and enjoying the process of writing it, is much more important than anything else.

As for the idea of needing to plan out your novel... It really depends on your definition of "a plan". Like I already said, all you need is to know what you want to write about, and to have a passion for what you'll be writing. You don't need to think about anything other than that. You need not know where you're going, how you'll get there or even where you're coming from. All you need is the want to do it, and the basic idea of what it is you want to write. Unless you have some time limit on your work, you'll have as much time as you want to figure it all out as you go along.

On a side note, I finished what I refer to as "Draft Zero" of my novel late last year. Took me two and a half years to finish, and all I started with was that I wanted to write some epic fantasy tale with a Dragon for a main character. Now it's not just a novel, but a world and a history and the ideas for several more books too, and that Dragon who I started with is much more than he first was. I don't know if I'll ever get it published, and even if I do that's a fair way off (I still haven't finished my first run of editing for my "First Draft" yet), but finishing it has been more than enough for me.

Don't think too hard on it, just go do it. If you hold up too much, you'll never do it.

tl;dr

Do you have an abridged version of your post?