You race toward print or the editor s trash bin. If you win, you get published. You dawdle, your story bites the dust. Every day taints your chances of winning the Space Race. The first thing to know about how to write is how to get started.
Writing can be a journey or a quick trip, but it is movement.
Without the first step, imperfect as it may be, you get nowhere. Standing at the end of a road, paralyzed and indecisive keeps you from gaining ground. Taking a given path might be the wrong choice, but you ll find out soon enough and be able to backtrack to the right way. Standing there, undecided and immobile, staring at the road or a piece of paper or your screen gains no ground. The rest will follow.