How do I become a writer?
When I talk with people, I get a lot of questions about writing. The most common one is someone wants to become a writer and they ask me, ‘How do I become a writer?’ The quick and short answer is to sit down with a pen and paper, or at a computer and keyboard, throw in a good dose of self-discipline and get started. You know that already and during the next few weeks I am going to give you tips on how to write so that you will make time in your busy schedule to get down to the business of writing, and produce a piece of writing. I will always be expanding on the basics below in future connections with you.
Since you are starting, I am starting with the letters that make up the word Writer and some tips on how to improve your writing:
W — Words. This is the number one tool for writing. Without them you can’t make a story. Words are powerful. Depending on the words you choose, they can change the tone of your writing, you can use simple or complex words and create atmosphere and a world for your characters to live the lives that you have created for them.
Exercise for today: Learn to understand grammar and the difference between a verb, a noun, an adjective, an adverb and a pronoun.
R — Reading. It is through reading you will discover how to arrange words to get meaning. You will learn how other writers use words to get their meaning across. You will learn a whole heap of stuff about a whole lot of subjects you didn’t know existed. Reading expands your knowledge and adds tools to your writing craft. Read books about writing.
Exercise for today: Allocate at least an hour per day to reading. This will help with developing your own voice. Join the library and start borrowing books if you don’t have the means to build your own library.
I — Intention. Set your intention to write every day. All professional writers write every day. Some writers hold down day jobs far removed from writing. Your intention may be to write a number of words each day or to write for a number of hours. It’s up to you, whatever you can fit into your daily routine, so long as you carve out the time to meet your writing goals.
Exercise for today: Make the decision you want to write and set aside ten minutes to get started.
T — Time. To write, you need time. Writing doesn’t happen without the commitment to putting time into the activity. If you have a dream to write a novel, then you must write regularly. This is linked to your intention above. Set aside the hours you want to write, or a number of words you want to achieve at each writing session, and do it. Writing a novel takes hundreds of hours of dedication and commitment. To succeed, you must allocate a period of time every day. Allocating an hour of your day gives you 365 hours in the year. That’s enough time to write at least the first draft of your novel, including some revision time. And it gives you a day off when there is a leap year, like 2020, or you may choose to write that day, too.
Exercise for today: Now that you have written for your first ten minutes, work though how many hours you can set aside each day for your writing. Start off small and then increase until you are comfortable with the amount of time you want to set aside.
E — Edit. Every writer’s work needs editing. Even the professionals who have been writing for years still have their work edited. You can edit your own work to a point. You become so familiar with the work it is easy to overlook obvious errors. Pay a good editor to review your work before it goes up online or to a trade publishing house.
Exercise for today: There is no editing exercise. Wait until you have written your book or story to be the best you can make it, then send it to an editor. If you are writing a novel, this step will happen in 2021.
R — Revise. Revising must be done by you the author before the editing stage. Your writing will never be the way you want it to be for your first draft. This is where crafting your words is important to ensure they convey the correct meaning. It means rewriting until you get it right. I know of authors who revise some of their scenes and chapters up to forty times plus.
Exercise for today: There is no revising exercise. Wait until you have at least three chapters of your novel’s first draft finished or the full first draft. Get the words down first then go back to revise.
I hope you have found this post helpful. My next post is about choosing the genre, or what field of writing you want to work in.
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Happy writing!
