Hey guys. I’m a 22-year old aspiring writer and English major working on a superhero story with heavy emphasis on classic fantasy and trope deconstruction. I first created it in my early high school years, around 14-15, but looking back on it, its original draft was nothing like what I have now and it was a cringefest, so I spent the next 8 years fleshing it out; it grew up with me, in a sense. By now, I think I have a solid idea of where I want most of the story to go, and I’m pleased with the concept, setting, characters, and plotlines. I drafted it out to have 24 chapters, each with any number of “episodes” I need to tell the story.

I’ve also been in a long spell of depression and social isolation, and while I spent a lot of that time working on myself and worldbuilding in my setting, I’m afraid to say I haven’t spent much time actually writing the story; sure, I’ve created one or two drafts, but I ended up scrapping both; today, I’ve decided no more and I’m going to keep working on this.

Now here’s where the problem is. I feel like I’m rusty, and I wanted your input on what I could do. I know one of the tips will be “keep writing”, and that’s definitely the plan. But I’m also looking for ways to essentially prepare myself for this.

One of the suggestions I got is to write short stories first and post/publish them somewhere, to help me get a handle on plot, character, and dialogue. I’m open to this suggestion, because I think it might help me prepare for the real thing; I might also dedicate some time in-between those short stories to work on the bigger project as well.

I’ve also gotten a tip from a family member that I should start a blog where I post parts of my writing for feedback and critique. I like this idea, but I think it would help me a lot in uni as well; I was promoted to the “Creative Writing chair” for my university’s writer club, and I am planning to host weekend sessions where I work with other writers to provide feedback and critique on each other’s works.

Essentially, I’m beginning to sink back into something that I've enjoyed since a child, and while I genuinely love the end result of my big project, I’m worried I don’t have what it takes to write it in a way that doesn't irreparably mess it up, especially after such a long dry spell; basically I'm looking for tips on how to avoid that and some reassurance.

Thanks.