I think that for some people, the thought of writing can be overwhelming because there's just so much to say. There are so many directions to go in and stories to be told. While that could be seen as overwhelming, it could also be seen as inspiring. While you’re forging through all of the fictional universes that you’re trying to get down on the page, here are a few things to remember:

1. Your Story Is Going To Change: I promise, no matter how solid you think your idea is going into the writing process, it’s going to morph into something different along the way. That doesn’t mean that your original idea was bad, it just means that your characters decided that there was a different direction that they wanted to go in. That’s totally fine! See where it takes you, because you could end up writing something that you love that you never dreamed of in the first place.
2. Naming Everything Is The Worst: You won’t realize how many things need names until you actually start explaining your setting, and your characters. If your story takes place in an alternate reality, or a fantasy land that is something you completely came up with yourself, that means that everything needs a name. Don’t let it scare you, just be prepared to have to think things over extensively, and don’t be afraid to name it something generic and get back to it later. (The “Find and Replace” tool is an amazing thing.)
3. Don’t Underestimate The Power of Dialogue: Dialogue is such a powerful writing tool. It’s a great way to move the story forward. Not to mention, you can teach the readers so much about your characters by the way they speak and their mannerisms. And there are times when that will be more useful to you than writing out their character description in a paragraph. Just like in movies, where you don’t get to read a whole paragraph on who the character is before diving into the story, you can treat your written fiction the same way. Provide enough detail for your reader to get an idea of who the character is, and then teach them more by letting them watch the character speak and interact with everything else in your story.
4. Writer’s Block Is Going To Happen: At some point, it happens to everyone, especially if you’ve been working on the same story for a long time. Don’t let it freak you out, because no matter how long it lasts, your story is still going to be there when you’re over it. In the meantime, you can always work on other projects, or write down any other ideas in your head that might not relate to the story that you’re stumped on. I know that for me, one of the most helpful things is to go back and reread what I already have written, because sometimes it will jog my memory of an idea that I had before that I forgot about; or told myself that I’d write down later but never got to.
5. Write It Down: In relation to my last point — always write stuff down. If you’re in bed and you get an idea right before you fall asleep, write it down. I don’t care if you think you’re going to remember it in the morning. You most likely won’t, and if you do, it’s not going to be as clear as when you first think of it. In the amazing age of technology and smartphones, you quite literally always have a notepad on hand. If you get an idea in class, jot it down in the margin of your notes and plug it into your story later. The best ideas seem to come at the times when you can’t do anything about them, so scribble it down somewhere and you can develop it later.
6. Research What You Don’t Know: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to write a story about a topic that you’re not versed in. The whole point of writing is to help you grow, and that means expanding your knowledge base, too. I know that when you’re in high school and college the last thing you want to do is more research, but at least with fiction you get to research fun stuff, stuff that you actually care about. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. My favorite quote pertaining to this topic: “Bad books on writing tell you “WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW”, a solemn and totally false adage that is the reason there exist so many mediocre novels about English professors contemplating adultery.”- Joe Haldeman. Don’t be afraid to get out of the box of what you already know.
7. Diversity Is Key: In all the worlds you can create and the characters you can conjure up, try not to make a monochrome cast for your book. The world is filled with different kinds of people, and that is something that you should let filter into your stories. Diversity in your characters, whether it be age, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, education level, or any combination of those things and more, makes your story more complex and realistic. Even in the most bizarre universes your characters are still something that your readers should be able to relate to on one level or another. Representation in literature is so important, and it will be much more relatable to your readers if you give wholesome, accurate, and dimensional representation to characters they can see themselves in. Do your characters justice, because they deserve it.
8. Your Writing Skills Are Constantly Progressing: Every time you open up a word document, or flip to a fresh page in your notebook, you are becoming a better writer. The more time that goes on and the more writing you do, the better you get. It’s just like any other skill. The story that you’re working on today, you’re going to look back on in a few years and think to yourself, “What?!” Not because it’s “bad” but because you will have evolved as a writer so much since that moment. Your tone as a writer is always changing and there isn’t anything wrong with that. Your skill set is always growing and your stories are always evolving. Embrace it, enjoy it.

Writing fiction can be such a freeing experience. The world you create is completely up to you. It doesn’t have to obey the laws of physics, it can be as much or as little like your hometown as you want, or it can take place on a different planet in a different galaxy. Fiction is just such an endless genre and I hope that everyone out there writing, or thinking about writing, takes it as far as they can.