What should step one in writing a novel be?

I have had an interest in writing for years, but I don't know where to start or how to organize the process of "becoming a writer." I have plenty of time, but don't know what to do first.

This past week, I decided that I want to try to write thriller novels. I spent some time brainstorming my basic approach to how I'll do it, and am satisfied that I have some vague idea of how I want to write. The problem is, now I can think of a million reasons not to do it, and without a serious plan, I'm afraid I'll just end up doing what I've done in the past: nothing.

I've read parts of several books on writing, but none seem to address the question of what you do to actually get motivated and able to make progress as a writer. I know I should just dive in and start writing something, but every time I've done this before, the writing has been so bad that I get terrified of failure and stop writing altogether.

So, here are a series of related questions:

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  How can I overcome the fear of failure/being terrible?

  
  


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  How can I craft a plan for becoming a writer and actually getting things done beyond brainstorming? (What should "step one" be?)

  
  



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  How do you read masters of the genre (I started reading John Le Carre today) that interests you in a way that doesn't lead to the reaction, "I'll never be this good, so why try?"

  
  

Answer

There are myriad questions on this site that already address this issue, and the consensus is always the same.

Just write.

Write for yourself. Don't even read what you've written. Don't even look back as you're writing. Write until you're finished. Once you're finished, look back over your work. Only then can you begin to be critical of style, grammar, flow, etc.

The more often you write, and the more volume you write, the better your writing will get. As you look back on things you have written, you will see mistakes you have made and you will understand how not to make them in the future. You will improve over time. Nobody becomes a famous writer thinking about writing.

Just write.

Practice makes perfect.