[Kreschyboy]

Well, i awoke one morning while camping with my girlfriend and reflected upon my adventures in my purple haze induced dream. Realizing i had something, i ran out to her car and grabbed my little writing journal that i had so stupidly neglected to leave by my sleeping side. thirty minutes later, pages had been filled with ideas; such a torrent of imagination i'd never before felt. When i realized i'd awoken my girlfriend and that she had been asking me what the hell i was doing for five minutes, i replied with two words: Virtual Equivalent. the proposed name for my newest novel project.
Its a strange fusion of Sci-fi (which i've never attempted before) and Fantasy. I'm really excited at the prospect of this novel, and i have since compiled pages upon pages of notes and random thoughts. My muse seems to have taken a liking to throwing ideas at me at the worst of times, usually while i'm busy at work. I've got 3 napkins, 1 paper towel, a bunch of loose leaf paper, some receipts, a newspaper article, and some journal pages all filled with writing. At some points, i feel like i'm walking in two worlds; ours and mine--which just so happens to be a part of the story.
When i try to explain parts of it to family members, they ask questions of me which i hadn't thought of, helping me with the realism of my world. Unfortunately though, their criticism, comments, and "help" is only so helpful. That's why i'm bringing it here to sffworld.
I'm ridiculously excited to actually write it, but terrified i'm gonna mess it up. I guess i'll take a crack at it though. Wish me luck.

[choppy]

Ah the muse who stikes at the most inoppotune moments...
- while driving
- in the shower
- out hiking
- studying for an exam
- camping (I get hit there as well, all too frequently)

Then you sit in front of a blank screen and you would think the darned thing would have something for you. If only you could get kids to be quiet so easily.

My only advice is to do what you can to get over the fear of messing your work up. The great thing about writing something bad is that you can re-write it much better on the second pass. Some authors take up to a dozen drafts to get it to the point where they are happy.