You want to write a story, but where do you start? Is there something you should do first, second, and third? What kind of work can you do upfront to make writing easier? If you're anything like the writers I work with, you've probably wondered some version of these questions before.

In this quick start guide, I'm going to walk you through five questions to ask before writing the first draft of your story. And I'm excited to share these questions with you because if you do this work upfront, you'll have a much easier time writing your first draft. But before we dive into the details, let's talk about the purpose of a first draft.

The purpose of a first draft is to tell yourself the story. It's not to sit down and write something that's perfect or 100% cohesive (that's what revisions are for!). But that being said, your draft doesn't have to be completely horrible either. By answering these five questions upfront, you CAN write a stronger, more efficient first draft that feels more like a second or third draft. Let's dive in!

1.     Who is this story about? What do they want and why do they want it?

2.     What's the external and internal content genre of this story?

3.     What point is your story making? What theme are you trying to express?

4.     Where and when does this story take place? What's the timeline and setting?

5.     What happens in the plot? What's the beginning, middle, and end?

Once you have solid answers to these five questions, you can either start outlining or writing. Regardless of whether you're a plotter or a pantser, I highly recommend learning how to write a well- structured scene to give you an even better chance of writing a quality first draft. Here are a few articles to help you learn more about writing scenes:

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