7 Ways to Become a Writer
“Every writer is in a self-actualizing process. Writing is an apprenticeship. A writer is always becoming a writer.” Liz Strauss
I have always called myself a writer.
I call myself a writer because I write. I must write. That’s who I am. Sure – I became sidetracked in teaching for three and a half decades but all through that time I still called myself a writer.
I am a writer because I must write. Just like a musician must play or a singer must sing, like an artist who must paint or draw or a doctor is compelled to help the sick, so a writer must write. It’s the passion within that drives one on, it is the desire to share ideas and stories in the form of the written word that compels the writer to press on.
Like any other pursuit in life, however, one never arrives at perfection. There is always the striving after a better way to express ideas, there is always another story or poem or article that must be written because it will be better than the last one. As Liz says, “Writing is an apprenticeship.” We are always learning – or should be.
How to become a writer:
There are many ways of honing one’s skills. I would like to list just a few:
- Read. Voraciously. Read the works of other writers – good, bad and indifferent.
- Write. Practice is needed every day. Remember that even the most successful singers, musicians, basketballers and writers practise daily. Remember that not all that you write will ever be published – in fact, most of it won’t be.
- Study: learn about the craft of writing from the many books, magazines, websites and blogs about writing.
- Attend: Network with other writers, publishers and agents by attending seminars, workshops and conferences.
- Reflect: Pause often to reflect upon your own writing. Is it achieving what you set out to write? Can it be improved? Where have you made errors? What parts need rewriting?
- Publish: Sent your precious words out into the wild world. If your words only ever remain on your hard drive or on tatty pieces of paper in a drawer somewhere, you have silenced the inner you. You have silenced those words that you have created and which are crying out to be released into the world where they can touch the lives of countless others.
- Persevere: In many cases publishers will reject your wonderful words. You may have very few readers of your blog. You will easily become discouraged. Persevere. Keep writing. Keep on sending out your words. They will be heard.
Remember: A writer is always becoming a writer.” (Liz Strauss)
Links:
- 7 Traits that writers have in common – the inspiration for this post – it is worth reading the whole article. My thanks to Liz.
Writing opportunities
Writing opportunities are everywhere.
It annoys me when writers say they don’t know what to write about. Goodness – I have so many ideas my problem is that I sometimes don’t know what to write next. Writing ideas are everywhere. I have written about that here.
Sometimes, however, writing opportunities present themselves unexpectedly. Recently I was approached to write the text for a pamphlet about bird watching. I was also asked if I could provide the photographs to illustrate the text. Birding – or bird watching to use the old fashioned term – is my lifelong passion and hobby. You can read more about my hobby on Trevor’s Birding, my blog about my passion.
While the writing of this pamphlet is not a paying project it will give my writing and my photography a very public exposure. The published pamphlet will have a large print run and be distributed widely through tourist outlets. One stipulation I’ve made is that it must include my blog address. I’ve written more about this project here.
Writers and bloggers should always be looking for writing opportunities like this. Public exposure of one’s writing can lead to writing jobs from some surprising sources. I rarely turn down an opportunity like this, even if the job is non-paying. These writing opportunities give you exposure that you cannot buy. They will also help you to hone your writing skills. Here are a few suggestions for writing in this way:
- Write articles for the local paper.
- Write articles for your church newsletter.
- Write articles for your child’s school newsletter.
- Offer to write articles for or be the editor of your club newsletter.
Related articles and links:
- Use your inbuilt story antenna – how to find story ideas everywhere.
- Trevor’s Birding– my blog about Australian birds.
The difficulties of being a writer
“To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.”~ Charles Caleb Colton
While I think that this quote has been written a little tongue in cheek, there is much truth in it. It highlights three important stages in the publication path.
- Writing: The writing stage is usually the one that concerns writers the most. First, there is the problem of coming up with an idea, then there is the problem of converting the idea into words and then finally editing and checking the words until they are as near to perfect as the writer can achieve. Most writers think that the process ends here. Wrong.
- Publishing: The next stage, getting the writing published, is just as important as the first stage. Having done one’s homework and research, the writer then submits the writing to a print publisher. Here is where patience is needed. Normally it takes months to get a response, and in the case of book length manuscripts, it may take years. All of this waiting is then without a guarantee of even getting published. And if you are lucky enough to get published, you may not even make any money out of it. Writers who think the process ends here are also missing the point.
- Reading: The reading stage is just as important as the other two stages. Without readers, the writer would be better off throwing his or her work into the fire; at least they will be able to keep warm that way. The promotion stage of writing is just as important as the writing. Without promotion, how will potential readers be found? This is vitally important, especially to writers of book length works.
Blogging applications:
How does all this relate to blogging, the new kid on the publication block?
- Writing: There is little difference between writing for one’s blog and writing for print publication. The writer still has to come up with ideas, though in fairness, I’ve read some blogs that are totally bereft of ideas. The writing still has to be good – even better in many cases because on the internet you have only a few seconds, perhaps a sentence or two, to get the reader’s interest. Proofreading, rewriting and editing are still essential skills.
- Publishing: Publication of one’s writing in a blog is the easy part. Too easy. As a result there is little moderation of what is published. In my opinion, the ease of publication on a blog is both a strength and a weakness. Its strength is the fact that almost anyone can be published. Its weakness is that almost anyone can be published. This means that there is an awful lot of rubbish to wade through to get to the good stuff, and the great stuff is even harder to find.
- Reading: The reading stage on blogs is probably the most crucial part. Without readers one is just blowing words into the wind. The real strength in blogging comes if good content being written. When there is good content, readers will find your writing through search engines. Consistently good content that is worth reading will be found and readers will come back. Loyalty of readership is something every blogger must strive for and cherish.
Good writing.
Five things all successful writers do
I have read many articles, blogs, books and magazines about writing. I have read numerous books on writing and attended conferences, seminars and workshops.
Some principles stand out and are common to many lists of things writers (and bloggers) can do to improve their writing. In this short post I want to highlight just five things that will improve your writing. These are things most successful writers do.
- Successful Writers are students of the craft of writing. There is no excuse these days; the resources are readily available. There are literally thousands of books and magazines that can help you to hone your craft. There are tens of thousands of blog articles that can help. Every year there are numerous conferences, workshops, writer’s groups and seminars designed to help inexperienced and emerging writers.
- Successful writers are readers: this is an inescapable fact. In order to learn how to be a good writer, you need to read the works of great writers. Sure – read for the story or the content first, then analyse why that writer is great, or successful or popular. Do not just confine yourself to the works of great writers though – read voraciously. Have you ever read a story and said, “I can write better than that!” Or perhaps you have said, “I could have written an article about that – but even better than that hack writer!” Prove it. Go ahead and write a better article or story.
- Successful writers do their research: they know what they want to write about. They study the magazines they want to see their writing published in and write accordingly. They research carefully. They study the requirements of publishers before they submit their query letters. They study other books or blogs in their genre or niche and strive to write better that their competitors. Successful writers also check their facts.
- Successful writers rewrite and edit their writing: they refuse to submit rubbish and they invest time and effort to ensure that their writing is of the highest possible standard, the best they can possibly do. Bloggers please take note: it is not cute nor is it cool to have sloppy, careless writing on your blog. It is a sure way to lose readers fast. Learn to spell and learn to check your writing. If you can’t or won’t do that – get off the internet and stop wasting bandwidth.
- Successful writers are persistent: They never give up. Never. Ever. Successful writers are people who never let rejection stop them from writing. They just kept on writing and submitting until they found someone who liked their work enough to publish it. Successful bloggers are those who have continued to write for many months and even years before they had any significant numbers of readers.
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