Paralysis to start due to limited vocabulary and inability to convey ideas or create an intriguing story

I don't have a topic in mind and if i started writing it would be something basic. Any advice to stop feeling insecure about starting

The first five chapters are usually the hardest for me. Honestly, the best advice I’ve been given was just keep writing. The first couple chapters may end up a little rough, but you’ll get better as time goes on and you get more experience.

Get comfortable with writing shit with no artistic value, while perpetually attempting to improve your output. Eventually, if you do this long enough, you will be able to scam people into thinking your writing is good. Theoretically this is because your writing has gotten better but personally I’m pretty sure my writing is still trash. It’s trash I enjoy writing and reading though, so that’s something.

LucidInk said:

I don't have a topic in mind and if i started writing it would be something basic. Any advice to stop feeling insecure about starting

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Try and try again. It's age-old advice and has been repeated to death, but it's advice for a reason.

Let's take me for an example. I've been writing for about 4-5 years now. My first creation was a fanfic that I wrote for a few dozen chapters (it's still up). My writing then was terrible, and I bet I'd cringe at it now if I looked back. Then I moved on to writing a proper webnovel (which is also still up). Stayed with that for >200 chapters, got 300,000 views, and then got sick of it because I realized just how terrible my writing and planning was. Back in mid December of last year, I finally picked up a story I've been passionate about writing and have created 37 chapters, dozens of incomplete lore documents, two intertwining magic systems, and a world I want to keep exploring.

Over the course of my writing life, I've picked up well over 20 stories. Each time I convinced myself it was the one I'd stick to until the end, only for me to drop them after a few weeks.

Eventually, you'll build up skill after learning from your mistakes. You'll write something that keeps you satisfied until you look back a few days later and realize it's a draft and needs to be polished. Still, you'll know you've made it, because you'll stop caring about what it'll look like to other people and yourself and start caring about how you can write something that'll be worth writing.

But, who am I to say? It's just my two cents.

LucidInk said:

I don't have a topic in mind and if i started writing it would be something basic. Any advice to stop feeling insecure about starting

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I'm probably going to be the only downer here, but: Why do you even want to write in the first place?
You say you can't convey anything, which may or may not be true - we can only go by what you're saying - and you don't have anything you even wish to write. Normally, ideas you truly want to come to life or want to share with others would be the reason to start. You can't be passionate about something you don't seem to hold any passion for, and it's not obvious from what you said that you wrote anything before, either.
Not just for the sake of the question, but in general, maybe ask yourself that and draw your own conclusions. It can go a long way in either motivating or clarifying things for yourself. Not how to start, but why you wanted to start, despite the obvious things that would hinder you.

My recommendation, perhaps a little contrary to the "Just Write"isms around here, is to read! Reading good literature should inspire you to write things yourself and help you get started! Or, watch a show you like, a good film, listen to some music, whatever inspires you to write. Don't start something that you don't feel inspired about. Search an idea that truly makes you want to write for hours. It'll make things easier.

I don't see a purpose to writing if you don't feel truly inspired to do it.

Improving vocabulary will be a slow process. Read, in particular professionally published books. In the US, library cards are free, and often come with a subscription to an ebook borrowing app like Libby. Also, a lot of Dictionary websites have a word of the day, which can introduce you to a lot of words you'll have never heard of.

Unfortunately, and to echo others in this thread, the only way to get better at writing is to write, but there are ways to reduce the difficulty. Unironically, fanfiction can be a good place to start. By offloading the responsibility for the setting, characters, or plot, to someone else, you can focus on just the mechanics of the writing itself. If you don't want to write fanfiction, making something derivative can still do much of the same things. Film studio The Asylum is known for its "mockbusters" (like Transmorfers), so do something like that, or be all fancy and literary about it and call it a pastiche.

Lastly, you should make something purposefully bad. I'm not saying write something you'll hate, but you should find a trashy genre you like, and parody it. Make the most generic isekai slop you can imagine. You're freeing yourself from expectations by making something purposfully flawed, and it will have been a success as long as it made you laugh. You don't even have to release it to the public, but it will have started you writing.

LucidInk said:

No tengo un tema en mente y si empezara a escribir sería algo básico. ¿Algún consejo para dejar de sentirme inseguro al empezar?

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LucidInk said:

No tengo un tema en mente y si empezara a escribir sería algo básico. ¿Algún consejo para dejar de sentirme inseguro al empezar?

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Cuando vayas a escribir un capítulo, concéntrate en lo que sucede: las acciones físicas de los personajes y lo que dicen, así como en lo que piensan y sienten en ese preciso instante. Prioriza el desarrollo de la historia. Podrás pulir la escritura más adelante, buscando no solo errores tipográficos, sino también mejorando tu vocabulario y la forma de expresarte. Recuerda: no importa cómo se vea el primer borrador; siempre puedes revisarlo cuanto quieras. Deja para después los aspectos técnicos, como la prosa y la elección de palabras.
En cuanto a ideas: ¿por qué no pensar en el tipo de historia, tema o arco argumental que te gustaría leer? Digamos que te gusta la idea de un protagonista guerrero invencible; bueno, ¿y si ese protagonista muere y reencarna como un huérfano enfermizo? Podrías intentar imaginar una versión alternativa de algo que ya te encanta, pero con tu toque personal. Solo ten en cuenta que puede que te lleve un tiempo descubrir exactamente qué es lo que quieres crear.
Bueno, ese es mi consejo. ¡Buena suerte!

Shiro-Shinomiya said:

When you’re about to write something like a chapter, just focus on what is happening—the characters' physical actions and what they say—along with what they are thinking and feeling in that exact moment. Prioritize moving the story forward. You can focus on refining the writing later, looking not just for typos, but also improving your vocabulary or the phrasing you want to use. Remember: it doesn’t matter how the first draft looks; you can always revise it as much as you want. You can leave the "technical" stuff, like prose and word choice, for later.
As for ideas: why not try thinking about the kind of story, theme, or character arc that you would want to read? Let’s say you like the idea of an invincible warrior protagonist—well, what if that protagonist dies and is reincarnated as a sickly orphan? You could try imagining an alternate version of something you already love, but with your own personal touch. Just keep in mind that it might take some time to discover exactly what it is you want to create.
Well, that’s my advice. Good luck!

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Basically ... you just have to accept the fact that your first bit of writing is going to be terrible. You have to accept that you are going to be embarrassed by it. And that the only way you'll get better is by having other people point out the problems you will then have to fix. And that you will need to edit and redraft in order to grow as a writer. Because just writing shit ... and knowing it's shit ... isn't enough to actually grow past it.

After doing all that, your second book will be a little better. You'll still have to do all the same redrafting and editing, but you'll find that you don't struggle so much with your biggest issues from the first book. And you'll be able to see the problems in your own work a little bit more clearly, and you'll have a better idea of how to handle them. And the sting of criticism won't be quite as bad. Then you'll be a little better than that by your third book.

So on and so forth, until you start to feel proud of what you write.

It's a long journey, it's scary, it's vulnerable, and it's a lot of work. And there aren't any shortcuts to make any of that any easier. But it's absolutely doable. No matter how limited you feel right now.

As for topics, my advice has always been to write something you wish existed, but that you can't seem to find anywhere else. That way, you never give in to the feeling that someone else has already done it better. Which can be hugely demotivating. And if you really can't think of anything that would motivate you to write, it's totally okay to just love stories without creating them. Or to run a TTRPG gaming group to practice more controlled storytelling until you feel more inspired.

Shiro-Shinomiya said:

Cuando vayas a escribir un capítulo, concéntrate en lo que sucede: las acciones físicas de los personajes y lo que dicen, así como en lo que piensan y sienten en ese preciso instante. Prioriza el desarrollo de la historia. Podrás pulir la escritura más adelante, buscando no solo errores tipográficos, sino también mejorando tu vocabulario y la forma de expresarte. Recuerda: no importa cómo se vea el primer borrador; siempre puedes revisarlo cuanto quieras. Deja para después los aspectos técnicos, como la prosa y la elección de palabras.
En cuanto a ideas: ¿por qué no pensar en el tipo de historia, tema o arco argumental que te gustaría leer? Digamos que te gusta la idea de un protagonista guerrero invencible; bueno, ¿y si ese protagonista muere y reencarna como un huérfano enfermizo? Podrías intentar imaginar una versión alternativa de algo que ya te encanta, pero con tu toque personal. Solo ten en cuenta que puede que te lleve un tiempo descubrir exactamente qué es lo que quieres crear.
Bueno, ese es mi consejo. ¡Buena suerte!

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English, please.

Shiro-Shinomiya said:

When you're writing a chapter, focus on what's happening: the characters' physical actions and what they say, as well as what they think and feel at that precise moment. Prioritize the development of the story. You will be able to polish your writing later, looking not only for typographical errors, but also improving your vocabulary and the way you express yourself. Remember: it doesn't matter what the first draft looks like; You can always review it as much as you want. Leave the technical aspects, such as prose and word choice, for later.
As for ideas: why not think about the type of story, theme or story arc you would like to read? Let's say you like the idea of an invincible warrior protagonist; Well, what if that protagonist dies and is reincarnated as a sickly orphan? You could try imagining an alternative version of something you already love, but with your personal touch. Just keep in mind that it may take you a while to figure out exactly what you want to create.
Well, that's my advice. Good luck!

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Why did you write in spanish then post an english translated version anyway?

AliceMoonvale said:

Why did you write in spanish then post an english translated version anyway?

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Oh, my dumb ass didn't catch that that's actually the translation, lol.

LucidInk said:

if i started writing it would be something basic.

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...But not nothing. Or even something that bad, for your level. Can't come up with anything at all? there's a dedicated subforum to creative writing prompts. Play around with that a little. Don't focus on the nitty-gritty, just get introduced to the feeling of writing something at all. Write a Mary/Gary sue character who fights a werewolf army or something. or gives a speech and everyone claps, or does something in a genre you're familiar with.

Don't look yet at the mountain of writing advice that tells you to do this or that, this way and that. It's like chess; figure out how the pieces move, then basic maneuvers like openings, etc. Treat it like a casual hobby. Some random idea pops into mind while you're walking down the street or watching a video or at work? jot it down in your notes app and come back to it later. (Think 'oh, I wonder, what if I move the piece like that?') A massive vocabulary isn't a requirement either. It just allows for niche word usage to describe something hyper-specific. And you can just search up words anyways.

But before all of that, read. Not just to internalize how authors write, but to develop that interest to put something of your own down on paper/screen, by seeing what you like and want to accomplish for yourself. Because everyone is unique, everyone has a capacity to make something unique. There's something out there only you can write. I hope you find it.

One day, you will know exactly what you want to say. It will be a thing that claws its way out of you, and there will be no room for insecurity. Between now and then, be insecure. Consider and reconsider and re-reconsider your work. Be critical and introspective of your own work, be curious and hungry for the work of others. Eventually, when it comes time to really speak, you'll have had the practice to speak well. Read often, imitate often, practice often. Write even if you don't know where you're going, give up when you need to and start something new. Start and stop and start again. Make a graveyard of drafts and failed attempts. Dead things are the best fertilizer.

First, live. Then, read. Writing comes last. The world would be a lot less cluttered if most never got around to it.

Cross your fingers and just hope you are perfect to get it on the first try. Like me.

Anyway. Even with limited vocabulary you can still make something. Check out some short stories or middle school novels in order to get a break down on what and how to mesh details with storytelling. The thing that the "just write and read" crowd keeps forgetting is that you need to focus on analyzing what you are doing. It doesn't need to be a concrete set of guidelines. Simply an idea of the how a story is made baseline readable and worthwhile.

Or in other words:

Behold, then, the overlooked truism: even within the lexical confines of a profoundly circumscribed vocabulary, one may nevertheless engender a literary artifact of no small merit. One would be well-advised to peruse the humble short story—or, dare I say, the middling-school novella, for therein lies an unvarnished exegesis of how extraneous detail might be synthetically fused with the sinews of narration. The zealous acolytes of the “merely write and read” dogma have, in their reductive fervor, willfully neglected the indispensable faculty of recursive self-interrogation: the rigorous analysis of one’s own compositional praxis. Let it be known that no draconian taxonomy of prescriptive rules is hereby enjoined. No. What is requisite is but the most elemental, almost banal cognizance of those latent architectonics that render a narrative not merely legible, but worthy of the appellation “worthwhile.”

Ya know potato potato, tomato tomato. You aim word good. Brain feel smooth. Happy brain for everyone. You don't have to over complicate things to share your ideas.

LucidInk said:

I don't have a topic in mind and if i started writing it would be something basic. Any advice to stop feeling insecure about starting

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Your first draft isn't your final draft.

There's a writing style known as 'snowflake' writing. You write the basic things first (like one-sentence summaries of scenes) from start to finish. Then you go back and make the outline more complex. Then go to each of those sentences and build them out in full scenes start to finish. Then you go back and add more details to the scenes.

Basic isn't bad, it's the point everyone starts at.

(Also in art or writing, people usually have a skill level lower than their taste level. It takes a lot of time/practice to get your skill levels up to your taste level. That's why a lot of people deal with imposter syndrome. The critical eye of the creator also continually improves.)