Hello there,
it's me - the Anti-paladin. To those who remember my tutorials posted here back in February: I have not only gained more experience I can share with You, but I also read a lot of books about writing to make absolutely sure I won't write about anything what doesn't help you write better in any way. To those, who haven't heard of me or forgotten about me: it's ok, let me just mention some of my successes related to writing, so You won't have to fear that You are taught by someone, who has as much knowledge about writing as a plumber about dentistry has...

I am 22 and I achieved so far: I have a 3 pages long article in the polish computer magazine called CD-Action published. This magazine has over 200 000 readers and is the best computer magazine in Poland. This is my greatest success so far.

If someone has the possibility, please check the issue 08/2003 (89) on pages:104 - 106. There You'll find the article; it's about various types of deaths in computer games.

Also two of my letters and one post on the magazine's forum appeared in a veeery popular section in the magazine; it was the section where letters from readers were published. These two letters were also published in a little book added the on of the issues of the magazine, which contained the best letters in it's history. I can scan the mentioned pages if someone is willing to check my credibility.

Oh, I also have some articles published in e-magazines on the cover CD of this magazine.

I've wrote this before, so forgive me repeating myself, but I want to avoid misunderstandings: I didn't write the above to boast. I just want You to know that I have an idea what I'm writng about. My goal is to share my experience with You, so You can learn the craft much faster and focus on something else, so You'll be a far more better writer than I am in the future

I think that this tutorial can be useful for everyone who wants to learn writing from the basics and master his skills.

Of course, although I can write on a communicative level in English, it's not the same as writing a book in English simply because it requires a vast vocabulary and a different mentality (a Pole wouldn't understand You if You said: piece of cake just as You wouldn't understand a Pole saying: bulka z maslem <bun with butter> which means exactly the same.) Occasionally You can find missing or incorrect punctuation, but I hope it won't be much of a problem.
My goal was to teach You (capital letter intended; in Poland it's common to capitalize You and Your to show the reader respect) things about writing like techniques, elements of style or habits that make writing easier; something that applies no matter if You're writing in English or Spanish and no matter what You're writing about.

I hope You will find it useful and that it will enhance Your writing skills even by 1% (hey, even this one percent means You are progressing and that You can achieve much, much more!)

Ok, now that I've wrote what had to be written, please take seat in the front rows of my Anti-theatre and enjoy the show!
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1. Looking at the shovel alone makes me tired...

I started to write the novel I am currently working on with a period. This way I had the first sentence, which is always the hardest thing to write, behind me. I had a problem, at which POINT of the story to start, so I started with a POINT (period).

It made me think that that blank sentence stands for a whole background and I just began telling the story at a particular moment.

Why is the first sentence so hard to write? Because of the choices that one has to make: he has to choose the tense, the point of view (the "I" or the "he"), the moment where the story begins, tone (slang or formal), the details that create background for the story and much, much more. Once You choose one of the paths (1st person, present, slang-cynism), it will be much easier to write, because You won't have to make such choices again when You start writing: once You choose to write Your story in past tense, You will probably stick to it until You type "the end".

That's not the only problem... There is something that makes the writer think that what he wrote is boring, stupid etc. Doubt.

I've gone through this myself and I know how it feels.
Before I start to write about doubt, I'll share some techniques with You that worked for me and probably will work for You. I tried this a couple of weeks ago and the results were quite amazing. I learned this technique from a writer who wrote down, with enormous honesty, a very painful personal experience; she gave it her friend to read and he started to cry because he could SEE (not only understand) how she was feeling all the time.
Another friend of her, in times of doubt or "writer's block", wrote down the dirtyest porn he could only think of for 15 minutes. After this his mind was cleansed and he had the courage to write something what turned out to be less daring ("if I can write down THIS, I will have no problem with writing that part of the story) than the story itself.
This writer wrote that the writer in doubt should write excuses until he/she gets sick of them. In my case, the doubt had the form of questions like: "Will the readers like my style?" or "Is my work to innovative?" that appeared in my mind and vanished before I could even answer them, only to appear later and escape the same way.
I simply wrote down honestly: "I fear that..." and I wrote why. I wrote everything I thought that counts, what seemed to make sense to me. If I felt like it, I also wrote down ideas how to solve the problem, even if knew that they won't work. Whenever one of these questions reappeared I thought: "If I would like to think about this, I would read the notes" (with all my doubts listed). It took me only two pages to write it all down and it works so far. My subconcious mind knows that I won't bother to think about something I "discussed" with myself before. That's why diaries and journals have such a great power...
If You follow this advice, You'll have no excuses for not starting to write.

In many books about writing You'll find a simple, but true piece of advice: "Just do it (write)!" I am not only a writer, but also an artist and whenever I think about the reasons why someone stares at a blank sheet doing nothing, I compare it to the situation when, say, a pencil artist, refuses to draw because he doubts that he'll draw something decent or better than usual. I had such moments myself... and did I do to? What is the cure for this? Doodles! Yes, the uncontrolled, sloppy or fascinating, simple or intricate drawings one draws during a boring class or meeting on a handkerchief or the margin of the note pad. Doodles not only set the artist free from his doubt because he lowers his standards (standards like: draw something decent!) but also motivate him to try out something new, experiment and, this way, focus on an unconcious training. Can a writer doodle too? Sure.
If You want to write a novel, but the size is intimidating, try to break the whole work into little chunks: write a page a day (that isn't that much, is it?) and you'll have 365 pages of a novel after a year. It's about a habit of writing everyday; such a habit is a blessing, because Your subconcious mind won't allow You to procratinate. I know how it feels in case of drawing; I am eager to draw and can't find peace until I try to put the idea on paper. Many beginning writers refuse to write because they think that their writing is not good enough. Who cares! When I draw I do a pencil sketch and correct everything I don't like when I'm drawing the lineart with a fineliner. Even if I make a mistake, I can always play with MS Paint and erase the unneeded lines or elements. Writers seem to forget that they can write WHATEVER in order to rewrite it later. My advice is: write down everything that seems to push the plot further and if You're stuck... skip to another scene that You thought of earlier, that one that You think is worth including into Your story... write about that bicycle chase, helicopter crash or whatever. Just write! Write so fast that You won't even have time to doubt in it's quality or the sense of what You're doing.
Remember! A relaxed mind works much, much, much better than a stressed one and speed writing is all about having fun from writing (besides, writing is always about having fun from writing; why should someone have fun while reading something You didn't enjoy writing?)
A couple of days ago I sat more than a couple of hours trying to write something reasonable to push the scene further. I couldn't. So I walked out of the house and sat on the balcony; it was a very sunny and pleasant day. Guess what... it took me only minutes to come up with a solution that seems good to me even today (often You discard something bad, what You thought yesterday was great). If You don't believe in the "a relaxed mind works better than a stressed one" then read about the way Lozanow taught his students using suggestions and relaxation. Boredom during a class makes You want to sleep, right? During sleep many interesting ideas come to mind, right (dreams)? While You sleep, You're right and creative part of the brain works without the interruption of the left one, left... uh, I mean, right? Relaxation/doing nothing does the most part of the work for You, right? RIGHT?! Yes, although it seems contradictory, most of the material in my novel I am working on came in an unexpected way from my subconcious mind and this means that my mind worked on it, wrote it for me without me being aware of it. I often found myself writing down great ideas when I was writing cr*p on a piece of paper, but had fun doing it. During this time I've learned to feed my subconcious with ideas, so it would give me twice as many ideas (cr*p I write works like a fertilizer). But it works...
I'll share with You my method of working with the subconcious mind in a latter issue of this article series.

Sometimes the beginning writer has to face the opposite: he wants to write, but he doesn't know what about... because everything he thinks of is interesting, but still not quite it... not something he feels, he wants to write about.

Before You start to write, try to think of a couple of things that concern You, that touch Your heart; something what You care deeply about. It may be hard, because even things that You should care about like famine or war will not seem involving enough (probably because You didn't see with Your very own eyes how famine or war looks like... just like most of us. Oh, and television doesn't count. A great example why, You'll find in Holly Lisle's full and free e-book on writing that You can download from her webpage; it's called: "Mugging the Muse for Love and Money).

If You want to write something like John Grisham's "The Firm" hoping to make a quick buck because it seems so easy or because You think that You will catch the tail of a galloping horse (profit from someone else's work and success) then forget it. Of course, You can get influenced by a writer, even imitate him in some way at the beginning of Your career, but don't count that You'll convince me or other readers to read something You didn't really care about. How can I read about the horrors of abortion written by someone who really supports it? It's not that I don't want to see a different point of view, but the author will probably try everything to not contradict his own beliefs during the writing of the book and this way it will seem unconvincing. Of course, a writer can - and must - do research before he starts to write and through this research find out, for example, that during abortion a child isn't shrinking because of a special poison (as I once thought), but is torn one limb after another into pieces by a kind of vaccuum and then it's bloody pieces put into a bucket like meat in a slaughterhouse - and this way change his point of view. Such a shocking, transforming discovery allows to write convincingly about some guy who supported it (because he knows how he thought himself then) and is now against it, because he experienced it and knows how and why his beliefs changed. Of course it's a single idea and doesn't make a story yet (to add drama, he can find out that his mother got rid of two babies before him and that she was serious about doing the same with him or something like that) Theres a rule that says: "Write what You know". Of course, You don't have to climb Himalaya, pilot a helicopter or search the Titanic to write about it, but You shouldn't write about it, if You don't know about it: writing that Himalaya is 2012 metres high and lies in Europe, that a helicopter can fly at any height and even into space or that Titanic sunk because of an suicide attack of Talibans is a big turn off (unless the attack is the idea for Your story). When the reader spots a lie, he will most likely think that the rest of the book is a lie too.
I don't have to say that he will put down the book and never return to it again. "Why, it's fiction" - You say - "Not everything has to be true". Yes, but writing is about creating an illusion of a believable world, and such errors can cause that You're reader will "wake up" saying: "Hey, that's not true. What is he talking about!?" Avoid everything what makes the reader wake of from this dream...

As said, You don't have to experience it Yourself to write about it. Another two great ways are: to read books, magazines, watch movies, look up in internet etc. about the thing You want to write about. If You want to write about police then research! I even saw in one of the books about writing I've a title of a book like: "A guide for writers on Police". You can also read books written by experts in the field.
But a great idea is simply to talk to people: to invite a psychologist for dinner (for example) and ask what his work looks like, ask for some ancedotes (anectdotes are great; life writes great stories, but be careful to use stories of real people, because You can get sued for this) or about the problems he has to face in his work life.
Writing about a lawyer is easier and done better when You know how a lawyer works: either after research or talking to someone who works as a lawyer. Many stories about Pentagon were rejected bacause the authors didn't even know how the people there speak and what they speak about.
Never, never underestimate research. A great article or book about it can not only make writing easier, but it can also be an unlimited source od ideas. If You find something like: "It is not uncommon that people found dead suddenly awake in the mortuary" (I've read an article on tanatology and such...) and suddenly You get an idea: "What if a cop got shot, was believed dead by the assassin, but awoke in the mortuary? What must he do to take revenge without making anyone notice that he is still alive? <maybe the assassin was someone whom he knows>" etc.

Oh, and if You want to practice before writing the great project, but are not motivated to write whatever comes to Your mind, try to write a memoir or journal entry. State a goal above each page: "Today I'm gonna write about myself in the third person perspective" or "I will start the first sentence with the letter A, the second with B...". Be creative, try everything out, even the most weird things. If You don't like it, You will not bother to use it in Your story.
I believe that Isaac Aasimov said that one has to write a million words before he becomes a writer.
The key is to write as often as You can. Those journal entries with a goal stated can work quite well: You can write as long as You like, You find things about Yourself (if You write honestly) that You didn't knew before, You write about someone about whom You care - Yourself and the goal stated makes You think that writing it isn't pointless.

I hope this news article was helpful to You. I hope You'll like it enough, so there will be a point in writing another one in the series.
Best wishes to You. I hope we'll meet again.