If you are reading this article then
you probably have asked yourself at some
point in your life, "Do I have what it
takes to become an author?"
I believe that successful authors, those
who actually write and finish that novel,
or book of poetry, or even that book of
short stories, and see it all the way
to publication, have certain characteristics.
Characteristics of Authors
1. They like to sit for hours in front
of a computer screen (or with pen and
paper), typing (writing) away.
2. They think about their book, even
when they're not writing.
3. They are motivated to finish their
book.
4. They are motivated to proofread, edit
and revise their finished book until it
is the best it can be.
5. They are motivated to publish their
book.
6. Once they publish the first book,
they are already working on the next one.
If you answered yes to anyone of the
above, then you have a good chance of
attaining your dreams of becoming an author.
Don't listen to those people who say it's
a competitive market out there. Don't
listen to those people who say they've
written five books and haven't had one
published yet. And don't listen to those
people who send you back your manuscripts!
Listen to yourself. Listen to that inner
voice, the one that is whispering now.
But wait until you get started. Once your
book is written and published, that inner
voice will be roaring! And the whole world
will hear about it.
I know, I know. I tend to be the optimist.
But we have so many pessimists in the
book business, we sure need some more
optimists around!
For you, the novice writer who would
like to start writing that first book,
the best way to begin is to start writing.
Yes, just sit down and do it. Stop the
other activities, the television, the
reading, the shopping, the chatting on
the telephone, and find the time to devote
at least one hour a day to writing.
What's one hour a day in the scheme of
things? It comes and goes like this, poof!
What do you have to show after an hour
of television? A lazy yawn? If that same
hour were spent on writing, then there
would be a product in your hands, something
that will be shared, hopefully, one day
with others.
So, go ahead, shut the door to the rest
of the world for one hour (or more) and
make yourself comfortable in front of
the computer screen (or pen and paper).
Let's take the first step to becoming
an author.
How To Begin
Foundation
Just like a construction company which
builds a foundation to a home, you also
need to prepare a foundation for your
career in writing. Don't skip this step,
it's important.
Your "foundation" will consist of basic
writing skills. Remember those English
courses you took in high school and college?
If you don't remember anything from those
courses, then it wouldn't be a bad idea
if you found your old English textbooks,
dusted them off a bit, and looked through
their pages to refresh your memory.
If you haven't taken any courses in creative
writing, you might consider signing up
for one. Check with your local community
college. They often offer weekend and
evening classes, and sometimes even online
classes. If you're on a budget, then visit
the public library and sign out books
relevant to writing.
In addition, it would be very useful
to join a writing group (online or in
your local area) that critiques your work
and gives you the opportunity to critique
also. The group provides wonderful support
and an avenue to sharpen your skills as
you gain experience in writing, as well
as exposure to other people's writing.
For example, Writing.com is a good example
of an online resource that provides many
opportunities to share your writing, and
get your work rated and reviewed. If you
want to join a critique or review group,
it offers that also.
The second step to becoming an author,
is to have the right tools.
Tools Needed
Besides a comfortable chair, plenty of
lighting, and a quiet room, you will need
a computer with a word processing program
(e.g., Microsoft Word), a printer, and
plenty of paper.
Why a computer? First of all, publishers
typically will request a copy of your
files sent to them on a floppy disk. More
importantly, working with a word processing
program will aid you in many ways towards
becoming a published author. It will provide
the opportunity to save your work as a
Word file, without having to use up tons
of paper (as with a typewriter). This
greatly aids you in keeping your work
organized. It also gives you the flexibility
to edit and re-edit large sections of
your work quickly by allowing you to utilize
the copy and paste functions.
Other advantages of using a computer
word processing program is that it provides
spell check capabilities, and also helps
you count the number of words per page.
In addition, when you want to spice up
your vocabulary (For example, if you like
to use the word "walk" often, and are
getting tired of that word), place your
cursor on the word "walk", hit shift F7.
It will give you a list of synonyms you
can choose from - like stroll, amble,
etc.).
The time saved by using a computer is
very valuable. It gives you more time
available to write! Of course, if you
don't have the above materials, don't
let that stop you from writing that book!
Using a pen and paper is perfectly fine.
Books were written with these two basic
tools for centuries.
Let's assume you are using a computer
and a Word processing software. First
of all, before you begin writing, form
a subdirectory that you can add all your
chapters to. Maybe you know the title
of your book already. Fine, then form
a subdirectory using the name of the title.
After you finish writing that first chapter
(oh joy!), just save it as Chapter 1 under
the subdirectory. If you are writing a
book of poetry, then you might want to
save each poem as a separate file.
When I write my chapters for my novel,
I format them in double space mode, with
a Times New Roman 11 font. All the margins
are at least one inch. This way it will
be ready for manuscript submission.
Try not to add your page numbers until
the very last revision. Page numbers constantly
change when you're revising, so wait until
the end.
Finally, another reason for having a
computer is for Internet access. As a
writer, you will have opportunities to
submit your fiction online, such as http://www.Writing.com,
or even your articles online for e-zines,
such as http://www.articlecity.com.
Any chance you can get to write online,
do it. As long as it doesn't take too
much time away from your book. It's also
a free way of promoting yourself before
the book is even published.
So you need to balance your time in writing
that book, honing your writing skills,
submitting your work along the way for
others to critique, and promoting yourself.
Can you do it? Of course you can!
The third step to becoming an author
is:
What to Write
If you are planning to write a novel,
it would help to know what general category
your book is going to be in. Will it be
in the romance, mystery, or science fiction
category? If you don't know, take some
time and think about it. Read some books
in those genres. Which books seem to attract
you the most? It's highly likely that
you'll be writing in the category that
you like to read. My preference is romance
because I read those types of books the
most. Once you decide the category, then
you are closer to writing that novel!
For poetry, you might start by writing
a poem and submitting it to a poetry journal,
or a poetry contest. Gain exposure for
your poetry. Join a critique group so
you can sharpen your poetry skills. A
chapbook usually consists of about 25-35
poems. For a poetry book, you'll need
at least 60 pages of poetry, if not more.
Types of Novelists
I have found over time, that there are
two types of novelists. The first type
is the writer who prefers drawing up a
proposal or plan of what they will write
about. The second type prefers to write
whatever comes into their mind at that
moment.
You decide which writer you will be.
Type 1 Novelist
They begin by describing the characters,
their names, personalities, and sometimes
their motives. Then they decide when and
where the setting will take place. When
will it take place? If it takes place
before the 1900's, then it will be considered
historical. Also, will the setting be
in the country, in a city (which city?),
in a house (whose house), on a cruise
ship? That needs to be defined also.
Once those decisions are made, they write
brief sketches of each chapter. It could
be a page or two long. Once all this is
done, then the real writing begins. If
this method works for you, then feel free
to use it. It may take some time, but
you will become more confident about what
you'll write once you go through this
initial process.
Type 2 Novelist
What if you're the type of person who
doesn't want to spend all that time writing
proposals and character sketches? What
if you're like me, who prefers to just
write whatever comes into your head? Then
do it! Sit down and start writing. Write
anything.
As the story develops, something wonderful
begins brewing in your mind. Something
called creativity. I've caught myself
hours after I finished writing a chapter,
and I'll be preparing dinner, or walking
somewhere, and a scene from my novel will
begin to unfold. It's called creative
problem solving. My mind is working to
solve the problem that the writing presents
it, even though I'm not actively writing.
When I get those urges, I immediately
stop what I'm doing and jot down my thoughts.
It's helped me many times, particularly
when everything clicks together.
How Long Will It Take?
It took me almost two years to write
and find a publisher for my first novel,
Lipsi's Daughter. For other people, it
may take longer or shorter, depending
on the amount of time they allow for writing
and how many pages they are writing. I
know of authors that took six, seven,
up to twelve years to write their first
book. I also know of a famous author who
writes two novels a year!
So unless you begin writing that first
page of your book, you'll never know how
long it'll take you to write it. Go ahead,
make that first step, and good luck!
This article was posted on February
27, 2004
