The Five Stages of Starting to Write a Story ( + Hey, I'm BACKK)

Stage One:
"OMG I just had the most amazing idea for a story EVER! It's so original and amazing and the characters are so vivid in my mind, it's like nothing I've ever thought up before, it's so AWESOME!! Everyone's going to love this book when I write it! It'll be the new bestseller!! I think I might be an actual genius?? I want to start writing right NOW!"

Stage Two:
"Urghh. Did I actually think this was a good story idea? Well, it's not. None of it even makes proper sense, plus it's all super cliche. How exactly did I think this was good?? What was I thinking?? It's terrible, no-one's going to want to read it, I can come up with stories that are SO much better than this,what's the point of writing it?" (Most of the time, I don't get past this stage.)

Stage Three:
"No, you know what? It's NOT a terrible idea after all! Yes, there are some bits that need work, some details that need to be ironed out, but the main idea is good, and with a bit of work put in, I think it could be a pretty darn good novel. I'm going to go and start plotting!"

Stage Four:
"Oh my god. I don't know how to write a plot. I don't know how to plan a story. I have a good, strong beginning and I know what the ending's going to be, but I only have a vague idea about what will happen in the middle. What type of writer am I? I don't know how to write. I'm a fake. I'm a fraud. Why am I even writing. I'm a FAILURE"

Stage Five:
"Look, whatever. I'm just going to start writing, even if I don't have the whole storyline thought out. The details will fall into place as I write. It'll work out. And if it doesn't, then at least I'll have the beginning written down, and maybe at some point in the future I'll have a better idea, and continue writing it. Seriously, what is all the fuss about. I'm just going to shut up and start writing."

                                                                                           

So there you have it, Indigo's five stages of starting a story. Tell me, does anyone relate?? I go through this every time I want to start writing a longer writing project; sometimes I go through each of the stages several times. I think what this proves is that I change my mind way too quickly, and that I have no chill whatsoever.

Also, HEY, I'M BACK!! I got home yesterday evening after spending about a week visiting family in Spain. It was GREAT, I got to spend time with two of my cousins, which was awesome, though they kept fighting because they both wanted to get their own way. So I sort of had to be a diplomat between them. But it was fine. I also spent time with my grandparents and aunts and uncles, which was cool. The problem was that I had literally NO FREE TIME AT ALL, what with visiting one family member, then going to another person's house, then having dinner with someone else, then going to the park with my cousins... I've been wanting to write this post for about a WEEK but I honestly haven't had more than five consecutive spare minutes every day, which I used to stalk other blogs and reply to a few comments, or go on Instagram (guilty pleasures heh), or just SLEEP because I was TIRED. I haven't had anywhere near enough time to write a whole blog post. I took my laptop with me with the intention of writing a couple of posts while I was away, but I only switched it on once for about ten minutes, and that was to send an email I needed to send. But anyway, I'm back home now, and I while I miss my family a little bit I'm quite glad to be back and have actual time to do what I want. I really want to start writing a book I've had on my mind for a while (the one I talked about in this post.) I've gotten to Stage Five, so I think it's a good idea to start writing, before I jump straight back up to Stage Two (I told you I sometimes go through the stages several times).

Also, it's October, which is basically my favourite month of the year. It's autumn, which is my favourite season, and it's the time of year when the weather starts getting colder and the days get shorter, and you get to spend more time indoors doing stuff like writing and reading good books and playing video games (again, guilty pleasures). And there's Halloween which is my favourite holiday ever. I know a lot of people don't like it or celebrate it, but I mean, a holiday where you celebrate creepy stuff?? I'm sorry, was this holiday created specifically for me?? I think it was??

I'm actually not very glad that the weather's colder now, because while I was in Spain the temperature was like 28 degrees every day?? (Which is like 82 Fahrenheit, for those of you who use the Fahrenheit system.)(It's not usually that hot there this time of year... global warming anyone?) And then I got back to the UK and it's about 15 degrees (59 Fahrenheit). Which isn't really that cold, but the difference in temperature is so big, I'm basically FREEZING right now. It's going to take me a while to get used to the cold.

Anyway, I'm tired, because yesterday I didn't get home until about 11pm and it took me a while to be able to get to bed and another while to fall asleep. Today I'm taking it easy, but tomorrow it's back to The Studies because I've done no studying for the past week and I have so much to catch up with.

Later,

-Indigo