How to Start Writing

It can be really intimidating, looking at the shelves in a bookshop, all those stories, all those  ideas, all those writers. Where did they start? 

They started, just like you. 

Human beings are instinctive story tellers, we do it almost without thinking, chatting with our friends, telling our families about what we’ve been up to, sharing a funny thing that happened on the bus yesterday. We all do it, everyday. 

Writing is simply an extension of that. 

Someone, somewhere, wants to read the story you want to write. You’ve just got to be brave and take that first step. 

Here’s how. 

  1. Don’t be afraid to be bad

If you never try then you can never fail, right? Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from starting to write. When you first start writing it might not be good, in fact it probably won’t be, and that is fine. Keep going because whatever you practice you get better at. Nobody starts off being a genius at the piano, you have to master scales first. The same goes for writing. Don’t be afraid to be bad. You have to go through that bit to become better and if you never start, you will never get better.

2. Ignore your mistakes (to start with) 

Don’t let yourself get distracted with the details. If you keep stopping to check your spelling and grammar, to reread and edit as you go you will very quickly lose your momentum and become discouraged. Correcting mistakes, fact checking and editing are all really important but they are jobs for later. Ignore the mistakes for now and just get your story written. “You can’t edit a blank page”  and if you keep focusing on getting it right then you’ll never actually write. 

3. Live with your idea 

Thinking about your story is just as important as writing your story. Let this new idea take up space in your head, tell yourself the story, think about the characters, feel the things that you want to bring forth in your writing. If you can’t stop thinking about your idea then you know that it’s something you’re going to want to write about. All writing starts with your imagination so get used to playing inside your own head and telling yourself stories. 

4. Read

Perhaps the most important thing any writer can do is read. Good writers are good readers, if you don’t know what you like to read, how do you know what you like to write? Read widely too, read different genres, different styles, workout what you enjoy reading and also, what you do not enjoy reading. We learn just as much from “bad writing” as from genius writing. If you can identify what you think is bad, you will have a better chance of spotting it in your own work. Read, read, read. 

Take breaks 

It’s important to rest your brain and, metaphorically, refill your cup so take constructive breaks to clear your brain. Going for a walk, staring out of the window, listening to music, talking to a friend. These are all great ways of clearing the creative cobwebs. 

By refiring your imagination it allows you to return to your writing fresh and ready for more creativity. You cannot pour from an empty cup. 

Find a rhythm or choose a target 

Your brain is a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets and just like committing to an exercise regime, it’s important to work out how and when you are going to write so it becomes a daily habit.

Write for a half an hour every morning before work. 

Write 500 words every day. 

Before bed, open your notebook and write one page before going to sleep. 

Think about what fits your lifestyle, try a few different routines until you find one that works for you and stick to it. 

Be interested in the world around you

The world is wide and full of stories. Engage with it, read about it and listen to people around you. Listen to their stories and find out what interests you. Maybe you love true crime? Maybe world history is your jam? Perhaps you love a really spooky poltergeist legend?  Be interested, ask questions and explore the playground that is our planet. Once you start opening yourself up you will find ideas flooding you wherever you go. 

WRITE 

Now that you have your routine  and you’ve been thinking about your idea and you’ve read loads of books, the most important thing is to actually write. That can feel a bit daunting, can’t it? Don’t overthink it, don’t worry too much about what you’re writing or even how you’re writing (remember it doesn’t have to be good yet) just write. One word at a time, that’s how any great piece of fiction is written, one word at a time. 

Find out more about our upcoming writing events here….

5 Dartmoor Legends to Inspire You

Dartmoor is rich in myth and legend, making it fertile ground for creative inspiration. Plenty of artists use the Moors’ mysterious and magical background as a starting point for new stories, and you can too. From ancient tales of witches to modern ghost stories, there’s plenty to pick from. Here are five Dartmoor legends to get you going. Pick one and try retelling it from a different character’s point of view, or from a different time frame. The only limit is your imagination. Happy writing! 

  1. The ghost of Okehampton Castle 

Nestled in the middle of the woods are the ruins of a medieval castle. It guards the crossing point of the West Ockment River and was once a sumptuous residence. These days, though, the bare stones of the castle are home to one of the oldest ghost stories in Devon. Lady Mary Howard was the daughter of a rich and cruel nobleman. She was married four times, and, if a local legend is to be believed, she murdered all four of her husbands. It is said that she finally died of a broken heart, just one month after the death of her only son. 

Since then, the tale goes that at midnight, a ghostly carriage, made of the bones of her murdered husbands, travels across Dartmoor. Guarded by two fearsome black dogs, it stops at Okehampton Castle where Lady Howard must pluck a single blade of grass from the mound before dawn.This is the nightly torment of Devon’s Dark Lady and only once the Castle grounds are completely free of grass will her spirit finally find peace. 

  1. The Crazywell Pool Myth

The black waters of Crazywell Pool are said to be bottomless. Some even claim that it ebbs and flows with the cycles of the moon, but while this mysterious natural pool is a beautiful place to swim, parishioners are warned never to go there on Midsummer’s Eve. It is said that its dark waters can foretell death. At dusk, the waters will call out the name of the next parishioner to die and if you stare into it by the light of a Midsummer Eve’s moon, it will reveal their face to you. 

Not long ago, the legend was being told in a local inn. They made a challenge that no one would be brave enough to go to the pool next Midsummer’s Eve. Two young boys accepted the bet, and the following Midsummer’s Eve, they went to the Moor, but no one ever found out what they saw or heard there that night. On their way home, their motorbike sped off the road and they were both killed. No one has dared to challenge the myth since. 

  1. The Mystery of Kitty Jay’s Grave

Kitty Jay was a young girl apprenticed to a farm in the 18th century. While working there, she fell in love and became pregnant by an unknown man. Some say he was the son of a local nobleman, some say he was a fellow farm worker, but when he found out about the child, he abandoned Kitty. Deserted by her lover and doomed to a life of impoverishment and shame, Kitty hanged herself. As a suicide, they buried her in unhallowed ground. They believed that the ghosts of restless‌ spirits would find their way back to haunt the living and so they buried her at a crossroads. 

And there the sad tale of Kitty Jay might have ended were it not for the mystery of her grave. Despite being disowned by her lover, fresh flowers are found on Kitty’s grave every morning. Some say they are left by the sympathetic pixies of the woods, others say it is the spirit of her guilty lover. No one knows, but even to this day, Kitty and her child still receive flowers. 

This legend inspired the novel “The Apple Tree” by John Galsworthy. 

  1. The Witches of Hound Tor

It has long been rumoured that witches use the Moors as a meeting place and gather here to cast their spells. 1,000 years ago, a local lord, Bowerman, was pursuing a hare across Dartmoor with his pack of hounds. Little did he know the valley he and his hounds were hunting through was full of witches performing a ceremony. Bowerman and his hounds burst into the clearing, disrupting their spell and knocking over their cauldron. Bowerman wasn’t frightened of witches. He laughed at their outrage and he and his hounds continued their chase, leaving the angry witches to plot their revenge. 

The youngest witch, Levera, was unusually powerful and had the ability to shapeshift. She turned herself into a beautiful sleek hare and lured Bowerman and the hounds into a new chase. Bowerman pursued her for hours across valleys and tors all over Dartmoor. Each time he thought he would catch her, she seemed to fly ahead of him like smoke. At last, when Bowerman and his pack were almost mad with exhaustion, Levera lured him back to the clearing where he had ruined their ritual. Just when he thought he had caught her, she turned back into her human form and, using the combined power of the coven, they turned Bowerman and his hounds to stone. 

Hound Tor and Bowerman’s Nose are two of the most recognisable landmarks on Dartmoor and can be found on the Northern slopes of Hayne Down. 

  1. The Legend of the Hairy Hands

There are many tales of strange creatures that live on Dartmoor but none so malevolent towards travellers as the Hairy Hands. When driving the road near Dartmoor prison it is said that a large pair of demonic hands will grab your steering wheel and try to force you off the road. Inhumanly strong and covered in hair, the hands have been sending drivers to their deaths for decades. In 1921 a young prison worker was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle. His two children,who were riding in the sidecar at the time, told the story of their father shouting and wrestling with some unseen entity moments before he was killed. 

Another motorist who survived his ordeal claims he saw a large pair of hairy hands take hold of his handlebars and forcibly try to steer his bike off the road. 

A young couple who were camping in their caravan awoke to find a large hand crawling towards them across their window. The woman said the hand exuded a demonic intent to do her and her husband harm. She made the sign of the cross and the hands, seeing this, reared back in fear and vanished.

This is a tale that has arisen again and again with many people insisting that they have seen the hands with their own eyes. Some say it is the demonic spirit of an ex prison inmate, others claim they are the hands of the devil himself. 

Find out more about our upcoming events here…