Tips on writing?

Hello! There are a few things that I've found help me when starting to write, especially something new:

1. Picture a scene instead of trying to plan the whole story at once and then build from there / figure out how to get to that scene.

2. Make a character, you can even base the character off of something you like and then build from there. After making a character you can figure out what kind of world that character would fit into and what their backstory might be.

3. Are there any things that are significant to you? I personally find religion fascinating so my stories tend to have some sort of religious theme to them and that helps me figure out what I want to write.

Basically, just ask yourself questions until you land on something you like enough to want to do! Worst comes to worst, you write a bit, decide you'd rather do something else, and you just go write that something else!

My biggest tip is to start embarrassingly small. Don't aim for a novel first; write one scene, one moment, one conversation. I began scribbling short stories during my lunch breaks at work, just ten minutes daily, and it genuinely built momentum. Read voraciously in the genre you want to write. You absorb structure and voice without even realizing it. Once I had a few short stories finished, I started researching self-publishing options and had to contact support through https://amazon-kindle-direct-publishing.pissedconsumer.com/customer-service.html to understand formatting requirements for beginners. Having a publishing goal, even a small one, keeps you motivated.