A common problem with writing fiction is getting started and then not knowing where to go after you start. I have a few tips that turn the process into a fun challenge.

1. Write the ending first

If you know where your characters have to go it will be easier to get them there. This gives you a direction to take them.

2. Write a scene in the middle

This helps in the same way as writing the ending first. In the middle it works as a milestone.

Here’s the challenge: Write a dozen or so scenes at random. They can be about anything as long as it’s a situation you can imagine your characters in. Now, randomly place them in your story. This makes you have to write the connecting scenes to thread the plot throughout the story. If it works then keep it it. If it doesn’t, then rearrange the scenes, get rid of what you have to, change them, add to them, or just count it as practice. Maybe this exercise will help you warm up and get you ready to write. It might even spawn a few ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of any other way.