Many writers have the misconception that words drive writing, that in order to begin you have to have the right first sentence or paragraph. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you begin with words, that's where you'll end up, lost in a quagmire of words. Why? Because words reside in the left side of the brain, which is the home of judgment, evaluation and the Inner Critic. You know that voice inside your head that says, "If you're going to be a writer than you have to write this, not that. Not too much sex or violence. Don't be boring. Write a page turner or don't bother..."

"Have to, have to, have to!...should, should, should!" Whenever you hear these words, take note. Your Inner Critic is controlling the show. What you want is for you Inner Writer to step forth. Then you can really start writing.

Here is an exercise to get you started. Answer the questions quickly. Don't think! Thinking will take you into your left brain and the domain of the Inner Critic who might think this is a really dumb exercise and this person, Emily Hanlon, doesn't know what she's talking about and you'd do better by leaving this web site and cleaning the house.

An Exercise to Get You Started

Answer the questions quickly, without thinking.

• Think of someone you really hate or strongly dislike, someone who drives you nuts. Write down the name.
  
  
• If the person who's name you wrote down were an animal, what kind of animal would he or she be?
  
  
• If the person were a color, what color would he or she be?
  
  
• List as many adjectives as you can think of to describe this person. Don't worry if you put down nouns, too. Just begin to list...
  
  
• If this person were an object in nature, what would her or she be? ie, a tidal wave, a black rose... whatever.
  
  
• List some verbs to describe how the person moves.
  
  
• Give your person a new name.