I don't know what the Lego community is like where you live but here in Edmonton it's pretty great. Having a brick and mortar store (the Edmonton Brickyard! Best place ever) that sells bulk Lego and retired sets and serves as a central hub for all the AFOLs around town is huge. Nothing wrong with the actual Lego Store of course, and we are lucky to have two here, but the Brickyard is all about building community. Among other things they like to sponsor building contests which is the kick in the pants I need to actually create something new rather than just follow instructions (which is also great and how I learn the language of Lego!) and then you never know, you just might win.

So yeah! I won a building contest. Yay! The concept was simple and awesome- take any minifigure ever made and build it a spaceship that suits their whole vibe. I chose Robin Hood from the recent line of Disney Collectible Minifigures and built him a little arrow microfighter. Oo de lally! It was enough to impress the judges, Sam and Neena from Lego Masters Season 4! They are more or less local so more evidence that anyone reading this should move to Edmonton.

Anyways, the contest motivated me to create something, and winning motivated me to learn Bricklink Studio, which is a CAD software that lets you build Lego models virtually and then create instructions. It's actually pretty easy, so long as you are willing to watch a couple of 20 minute YouTube videos to learn the basics. I did all that, and posted the instructions on Rebrickable, aka the best website ever made. You can download the instructions for free! Might need an account but maybe not even. There is an inventory page too so you can see what parts you need before you start building. You need parts? Head down to the Edmonton Brickyard and you will likely be able to find everything you need! But if that isn't an option than another resource, available globally, is Bricklink. That's a place where you can buy individual Lego parts. Personally I use it a bunch, but I have tried to mostly shop only at local stores that offer pickup to save on postage. Building a list of local sellers is a but tricky but the best advice I have for that is join a facebook group or something of local-to-you lego enthusiasts and see if anyone already has a list.

Have fun!