How to Become a Writer

Now you’ve probably come across this article because you love writing. The first thing to do here is to consider whether or not this statement is true. Ask yourself, why do I want to write? There maybe a lot of reasons for wanting to write, but the single, most important reason is that you want to write for the sake of writing.

Now, you may like to write as a career and feel as though you want to write in order to earn money. That’s fine, noone can survive without a source of income and everyone, even those who seem most unlike it, love money. That’s a fact. However, you need to get your priorities straight. Writing comes first, that’s the main pleasure, then money will inevitably come as a pleasant side effect which you may or may not get. It doesn’t matter, as long as you love what you’re doing. You may also consider world fame to be one of your targets, one which inspires you. Once again, stop dreaming about it. It won’t happen unless you really love what you do. Good writer’s aren’t ones who can write well. Good writers are writers who write from the heart. Once you get over this boundary, you can accomplish anything.

Remember to take things one step at a time. You may feel as though you want to constantly write a top-selling novel, but get a few chapters (or few pages!) in and then realise that your idea either is too “corny” or is just a rip off of another book written by the likes of J.K. Rowling or Dan Brown. Even if you do feel this way and your plot seems as if it’s exactly like your favourite writers, it doesn’t matter. Remember, your writing for the love of writing, not in order to avoid copyright or get published. If you like that type of story, just write it. It may turn out exactly the same, or on your journey you might change a few things and find that you’ve come up with creative new ideas. Writing doesn’t come through creativity. Creativity comes through writing. The way you write doesn’t matter. Do you really think that all the novelists in the world have perfect spelling, grammar and most importantly style? There is no perfect style of writing. The perfect style of writing is your style of writing, even if it seems humble compared to other books. This is one of the biggest mistakes blooming writers make, comparing their writing to that of other writers. Ignore this and write when and how it feels right.

Creative inspiration may seem like a huge milestone to jump. You have the right mindset and feel like you could climb a mountain, but unfortunately have chronic witer’s block. You hear others only occassionaly get it, but feel like you’re different. You get it all the time. Don’t worry, there is a solution. Inspiration doesn’t come from your mind. Our brains aren’t made to make up completely new things. That is why you see the same themes occurring in many different novels. Good writers take myriad different experiences, from the most boring to the most exhilarating, and put them all together to form what appears to be a new world out of the blue. Nobody is capable of creating something completely new, although you may think you can. People like writing and reading something which relates to them a little at least, but then has a slight twist. On the other hand you may like scrawling wacky ideas onto a page. But trust me, a story is easier to write when it has some connection with your life and interests.

On that note I am going to leave you. Good luck in writing and remember what I said earlier, writing is for yourself and not for others.