Freedom gives us too many possibilities. We seize up when confronted with what feels like infinite possibility, and fear comes after you as soon as you manage to write your first lead.
What to do
1. You have to be you. Neil Gaiman has said,
“Tell your story. Don’t try and tell the stories that other people can tell. Because [as a] starting writer, you always start out with other people’s voices — you’ve been reading other people for years… But, as quickly as you can, start telling the stories that only you can tell — because there will always be better writers than you, there will always be smarter writers than you … but you are the only you.”
2. Don’t go back to figure out what is most important in the story, so you can use it with your lead. If you don’t remember the most interesting parts of the story after reading all of your notes once, then it’s not that important.
As long as you are considering the audience when writing your lead, what you thought was important is what is important. You didn’t miss anything.
3. Freak out and critique your lead into oblivion. Because that always helps.
Yea, that last one was a joke. The point of one and two is not to do three.
Stay Positive & Joking Is Fun In Leads Too
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