Ten Things You Should Do If You Want to Become a Writer

I’ve been a creative writer for many, many years, and I’ve learned a thing or two about being a writer in a world where you need a steady income and selling books is hard.  Here are some of my tips.

1.  Write because you want to, not for money.  Well, who would be a writer for the money?  Very few writers get to be a J. K. Rowling, and even she had no idea that her quirky little idea about a school for wizards was going to make her rich.  You might get your books published, you might even get to be a best-seller, but earning a living from writing is not something that comes easy.  So, if you’re going to become a writer, you need to really want it!

2.  Keep your day job.  For the reasons just stated.  If you don’t like your day job, then find something else you might enjoy more.  I found my solution by becoming a self-employed genealogist, which feeds into my novels, which are often with a family history theme. 

3.  Read.  Read every single day.  This is a better way of learning your craft than any creative writing course.  Particularly, read the genres you want to write in.  Don’t just read for enjoyment, though.  Think about how the writer has structured the novel, how they write descriptions, and why the characters are so interesting.  Be inspired.

4.  Start writing and don’t stop.  If you want to become a writer, you have to actually start writing.  Wanting to be a writer is not good enough – you have to start putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard.  If you don’t know what to write, just start writing about your favourite things and let the ideas come.  Think about what you enjoyed doing as a child, or your favourite books.  The act of writing, even if you don’t know where you’re going with it, can free up any blocked creativity and open your brain up to ideas.

5.  Find a time to write every day.  Doing something at the same time every day is the best way to develop a habit, so think about the best time for you to write, even if it’s only for half an hour.  Could you get up half an hour early, or sacrifice some TV watching time?  Or even write on the train (I used to do this).

6.  When you finish your first novel, start your second.  You’ve written your first novel!  Great!  Brilliant!  Well done – it’s a major achievement.  Celebrate, open the champagne and take your friends out for dinner.  Then get started on the next one.  By all means, send out the novel (after all the editing of course) and see if you can get a publisher or agent interested – but the chances are your first novel is not going to be published.  It may just turn out to be the best writing exercise ever, so use the experience to make your next novel even better.

7.  Get other writers to read your work.  Don’t rely on friends and family to critique your work.  They are far too fond of you to say they don’t like it, or that the characters are two-dimensional, or it’s too derivative, or it’s just crap.  You need a professional eye, and someone who will give you useful, constructive criticism.  And you need to be able to take it, and learn from it.  Search the internet for professional editors who will give you feedback as well as proofread.

8.  Consider self-publishing.  You might prefer to go down the traditional route of trying to get your book published via an agent and/or through a publishing house.  But this is so much more difficult than it sounds and it’s HIGHLY competitive.  While self-publishing and marketing your own books is HARD WORK, you do actually get to see your book in print, and have people read it, even if you don’t earn much from it.  And to be honest, even with a traditional publisher, you’ll be expected to do much of the marketing anyway.  Personally, I prefer the autonomy of self-publishing.  These days it is not expensive to self-publish, and it is possible to earn some money from your books – but learning how to market and sell your books might be a steep learning curve.

9.  Keep writing.  Oh, yes – keep writing.  Even on days when you don’t feel like it.  Writers don’t always write because they feel like it, they write because they have to.  And sometimes it’s difficult, and feels like you’re carrying a Great Dane up a hill.  But you’ll get through the sticky bits to days when your writing flows, and the Great Dane is carrying you up the hill.

10.  Develop your skills.  Remember what I said about accepting criticism?  Difficult though it is to take, criticism is a gift.  Take it on board, especially if more than one person is saying the same thing.  Learn to evaluate your own writing.  When I started writing I knew my stories were a bit ‘thin’, and I learned to develop better descriptive skills – creating a sense of place to give a deeper level of experience for the reader.  If you’re going to self-publish, you’ll also need to learn some marketing skills

If you still want to write after all this, then congratulations and welcome to the club.  If any of this puts you off, then perhaps it’s not really your thing after all.  Being a writer is tough, and it’s hard work, but if, while you’re doing it, you feel like you couldn’t be doing anything else, then you really are a writer.  Time to get started!

Find my self-published books HERE