writing blockage!! help please!

[noxaster]

Ok... I love writing stories but I always suck at starting them off... I usualy start them in the middle but have trouble connecting them together and starting it off. Does anyone have any tips?  

[thomulus]

One of the things I've tried when I had to write short stories for school, was carrying a pencil round with me, then if an idea came in to my head I could write it down, a lot of good ideas get forgotten  

[Joonbong]

Start it out with a short phrase that would catch the reader's attention. But yeah, do what the person that replied above me said too.  

[noxaster]

K thanks for the advice, I'll try that!!  

[Evermore Reality]

Do you chart your chapters in advance? I find making a list of the events I want to cover and the order I need to cover them in helps me keep going when I'm stuck.

And my advice would be to start from the beginning, not the middle. Writing always comes more naturally to me when I pretend I'm telling myself a story: beginning, middle and end.  

[Joonbong]

Good luck! biggrin  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Hmm, beginnings. I don't know if I can give you the best advice, beginnings are always the worst for me as well. Middles and endings come naturally, but I really have to squeeze my brain for a beginning.

What I find works best is to pick out one theme from your story, something that connects all of the elements together, and to make a concrete reference to that. I never go into feelings, but into sensations. Sight, touch, sound, etc. Try to draw out an abstract representation of your story into one small thing, then I find it sets the tone for the rest of the piece.

Just a question, are you talking short story or novel? Because if your answer's novel, then there's your problem right there. Go small until you're absolutely confident. I still haven't attempted a novel, just a lot of short stories.