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Get out of your own head. Write. Just write. Stop worrying about whether it's perfect. Stop worrying about which book to follow. You've got a list taller than the coffee table and they can contrad...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/12167 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/12167 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
Get out of your own head. Write. Just write. Stop worrying about whether it's perfect. Stop worrying about which book to follow. You've got a list taller than the coffee table and they can contradict each other. Just write. Get something on paper. If you're really flailing around, pick your first book about plotting, follow some of the advice there, and put your plot together. Just write. You cannot edit, improve, or critique a blank page. You need actual text to work with. Just write. Once you have a _novel_ written, never mind the first chapter, _then_ you can go back and worry about setting, description, characters, a critique group, etc. etc. But until then... just write.