Inertia. Sir Isaac Newton first defined it in the 1700s. Most of us think of it as the phenomenon that an object at rest tends to stay at rest. For artists, that means it’s often difficult to start a new project – especially a big project.
But few people remember the other half of the definition: a moving object will remain in motion unless affected by another object or force. Ah ha! Therefore, that means once you start on your project, you tend to keep working on it. The problem is then, elementary, my dear Watson: How to get started writing in the first place.
Most of us think of a project as a big mass of effort. Take a graphic novel, for example. It’s 180 pages of drawings & text. How does anyone start in the face of such a daunting undertaking? However, no one “draws and writes” 180 pages all at once. There are stages to the process, and each one is eminently do-able.
Stage I: Roughing out the character designs
Stage II: Creating the outline
Stage III: Writing the story
Stage IV: Illustrating the pages
Taken one at a time, each stage is fun to do, and limited in duration. Therefore, set smaller goals for yourself. You’ll be more organized, and most important of all – you’ll get started!
Hope that’s been helpful!