If you consider yourself a would-be writer, as in you would be a
writer if only you had the discipline or the imagination then this is
the recipe for you. This can be done anywhere by anyone because
everyone has some discipline and imagination or else you'd never have
learned that complicated and abstract thing called language.
Step 1: Start Writing
You first want to get the pages moist with ink, as it were. Start
writing about the fact that you are starting to write, if that's all
you have, but you can't finish unless you actually begin. If you
already know what you want to write, but don't know if you can stick
to it then that might be because you haven't found the fun in it yet.
Step 2: Write About Yourself
Describe, comment, praise or even advise yourself, but write about
your favorite subject: You. Maybe even write about things that aren't
true yet, but that you'd like to be. There is great power in
committing thoughts to words on a page. Don't worry about overall
structure just yet as that may only slow you down before you've even
begun.
Step 3: Read Your Words Aloud To Yourself
There's a music to language and you should be the first person to
benefit from that. Besides it can be a quick way to notice any
problem spots that still need some clarity.
Step 4: Simplify
Go back over what you've written and cut out those parts that are a
mouthful or are hard to picture. If you really like those parts than
simplify the descriptions so they are easier to read and imagine. The
important thing is to streamline so don't fret over any one part too
hard.
Step 5: Stop Writing
Let your head empty out after all that thinking and do something else.
Step 6: Start Re-Writing
This is when you start from the beginning again turning your thoughts
into words, but with a little more structure than the last time.
Rewriting doesn't have to mean patching the holes of a previous draft,
but can be about starting anew with a little more direction. That
means you can't be afraid to throw out everything you've already
written. The goal here is to turn writing into something fun and if
you chain yourself to a previous draft just because it contains a few
favorite phrases then you may wind up frustrated and stalled once
again. Don't worry about all that. The phrases will still be there
later if you do find the perfect place for them, but for now just
enjoy the process of giving form to your own personal imaginings.
That's the real fun.