Starting A New Story

I’m working on a new short story and find myself banging my head trying to answer basic questions.

  • What does this character want?
  • What is preventing her/him/hir from getting it?
  • How can I begin the story so that the reader is immediately intrigued?
  • How do I introduce the character’s “ordinary world” in a way that is far from ordinary?
  • How do I bring these characters to life ?

I tend to go into this thinking that failure is not an option. However, that stifles my brainstorming because I criticize every idea before it has a chance to become something. What I need to realize is that failure is mandatory.  In other words, I have to allow for a whole host of bad ideas in order for me to find the ones that will make my story shine.

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About Dharma Kelleher

Dharma Kelleher is a Web and graphic designer, writer and zen punk nerd. She has been working with HTML for more than ten years and has recently opened her own design studio.
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