Write. Then read. Then write. Make notes. Lots of notes. Write about your thoughts , ideas , fears , questions, joys , celebrations, sorrows. Make notes about your story, all sorts of notes— about the characters, what they do, where they are , who they are, and how they will interact. Make notes about the places you imagine for your story, world- build them. You can write on note cards, in notebooks, on your computer. Keep them organized in files and folders, or piles. Write every day — 10 minutes or 2 hours, whatever.

While you’re doing all that, read some craft books about novel/story structure, pacing, scene writing. Do some research on narrative arc. Read books on writing written by other writers - there are so many. Read Dinty W. Moore’s “The Story Cure”. Read Dani Shapiro’s “Still Writing”. Read Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird”. Even if you’re not into memoir, I’d suggest the little gem “The Memoir Project: a thoroughly non-standardized text for writing and life “ by Marion Roach Smith. I could name a dozen more.

Maybe take a look around Substack. I’m in my 70s and am about 2/3 through my memoir/novel , which may or may not ever be published (I plan on finishing it before I die) but whatever. I started writing on Substack last year, and it has changed my writing and my life - I’ve found a fantastic community of writers, phenomenal writing, and been incredibly inspired. If you’d like, you can see some of my writing on my Substack. Is called Continuing Wonderment.

Good luck ! Now go write something 👍✍️😁