It is hard to make people

To build their whole lives

Designate their place in the world

To know every fear they have

Be aware of their every thought

And to not give them a good life.

To me, it is fairly easily to create realistic characters with words and dialogue.

Plot, more difficult I will admit, but not impossible.

Rising action is always fun to make, and obstacles are more of a guilty pleasure than a trial.

The climax, oh! How it sends shivers down my spine and excitement coursing through my veins! I love creating the climax - it's like driving off a cliff in a damaged Corvette.

But I find that the most difficult parts of creating a story is, in fact, the beginning and the end.

I dread the beginning because there are infinite ways to start. Do I start when the protagonist is born? When he meet her? When she escapes from the prison? Maybe when his grandfather discovered the pocket watch that would start it all?!

Then there's the ending... And it's difficult for a very different reason.

I don't want the story to end.

It's agonizing to leave your creations - to make that final period. I can compare it to empty nest syndrome (after all, I practically guided them through their journey). It feels like I'm abandoning them.

So no, I don't like infinite beginnings, nor do I like the painful endings.

What a writer I am...

I can't get past the first 1000 words. My characters start out so vivid to me. But when I start adding names (I always think my character names sound so fake) and more details to their lives my little people fall apart. My story starts to sound like something else I heard/read/dreamed about and my passion for my character peters out. I've been advised to write past that. I've created one novel. Its dreadful. But the first 1000 words are glorious.

So I challenge you. Create a story and write more than the first 1000 words.

The beginning.

The first sentence is always

The hardest to write.

But once I've got it, I don't stop.

And the title.

I think the most difficult part is actually writing it down. I find it easy to think of it my head. Conversations, plots, and characters flow seamlessly until I go to that keyboard or pad of paper. Then my mind goes blank and refuses to come to life. The characters shift and change refusing to do the things I had imagined for them. Then the story slips away into crumpled piece of paper in a waste basket.