Secret to Becoming an Author
Sometimes, I wish I knew the secret to writing. The secret to making a book come together, to make the idea that begins in my mind come to life on the page.
I think it’s what all writers are looking for. If you attend a workshop, lecture, any type of event where an “aspiring writer” gets to ask a published author a question, you’re almost guaranteed to hear the same question, “What advice do you have for an aspiring author?”
And since it’s the same question asked at every venue, it’s not surprising that the same answer is given, regardless of the author, “Write. A lot. Every chance you get. And read. Everything you can get your hands on.”
Even as authors I think we’re looking for a better answer than that and hoping to give a better answer, but that is where it begins. It’s kind of the clichéd response of the profession, kind of like when calling an IT person about a computer problem. The first thing they’re going to ask is if you turned your computer on.
And while writing and reading a lot is absolutely necessary to being an author, here’s the other part: You have to want it, more than just about anything else. There will be days, weeks, months, a span of time so long that it will get designated as a “period” of time maybe it’ll even be called an era, where you will not feel like you are good enough. And during those times, your desire to write has to be greater than that doubt, that fear, that mountain of stumbling blocks in your way.
I don’t know if anyone wants to hear that the greatest obstacle to becoming an author will be themselves and their expectations for their writing. Somehow, right off the bat, the first novel an author writes gets the weight of all their expectations, all their hopes and dreams of being an author. Long before it ever gets a chance to be published, all the eggs are placed in this proverbial (novel) basket.
Some people will get published without having the passion to pull them through, but then again, maybe they won’t have the doubt or fear that comes from placing so much importance into a single task. Some people will publish their first book and it will be the greatest thing they ever write. Although, that’s a lot of pressure too, because you might not meet that level of greatness again, or you might stop trying.
That’s the thing about writing, we all have to stumble and fight for every inch we gain, usually the fighting is with ourselves, but no two paths will be the same. Certain authors will argue that their path or method is the best or the key to success, but that’s only because that’s what worked for them. That may not be what works for another author.
The advice will be valuable, but it may not end up working for you.
So besides writing and reading, what is the best advice to give someone who wants to be a published author? Start today. Don’t wait for conditions to be just right to start writing, because that day will never come. Some days, it will come so easily while others will prove to be almost too much to bear. But if you keep pushing yourself forward, sometimes progressing quickly and other times making only small successes, eventually, you’ll get there.
And one last note. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard came from Nikkita C. Miller. You may not know her (or maybe you’ve read her poems on this site before), but luckily I do, and I can pass on her wisdom. “Bet on yourself, invest in yourself, and believe that you can do it.”
Great article! I always ask that question on our podcast and typically get the same answers. Recently, one author said to “write what you want to learn about” which directly contrasts with “write what you know.” I loved that answer because personally, if I only wrote what what I know, it wouldn’t be very much! LOL
Thank you! I dread that question at author lectures because I know what’s coming. And while it really is accurate and true, I don’t think that’s why the person stood up from their chair went over and stood in line until they reached the microphone and asked their question.
What they don’t tell you is that writing is like on-the-job training. The type where you think someone is going to show you step-by-step how to do the job, but instead they just throw you in and see if you sink or swim. No amount of education will teach you as much about your writing as sitting down and writing. It’s both terrifying and freeing. But learning about writing helps a lot. But it is more useful after you learn how you write. Hopefully, we’ll get more authors who know this is a standard question and maybe throw in the write and read bit, but add something else that helped them along the way.
And yes, the write what you know advice is interesting. So many people feel limited by that. But there’s such a great opportunity to explore the world and fill in the gaps in your story with research. If no one ever wrote about things they didn’t know, our reading selection would be greatly reduced. But even if you don’t know about certain aspects of a story, there’s plenty you do know. You know people, you know emotions, you know how different people react. I think that’s how you pull in authenticity, by drawing from your own experiences with the world. But honestly, if you threw out writing about things that you didn’t know, you’d wipe out almost the entire sci-fi genre, not to mention most of horror, and any story that deals with the paranormal. And really the list goes on from there.
Thanks for commenting! 🙂
“What is the best advice to give someone who wants to be a published author?”
Read everything that catches your attention, whether it’s in your writing genre or not.
Remember, you don’t have to follow the Writer Stereotype (smoke, drink, do drugs, be miserable) in order to write well.
Write when you’re in a good mood. Write when you’re in a bad mood. Write when you’re just coasting on neutral. Just write.
Don’t make yourself miserable/drunk if you have a no-writing day. These things happen.
Don’t stress out about how to develop your writing voice. It will come through as you write and the more you write.
Don’t be afraid to use silence in your writing. Sometimes a character’s silence can say a lot more than a whole paragraph of dialogue.
Have fun! Let your characters take you by surprise. Make yourself laugh as you write. Make yourself cry.
Great tips. There are really so many pieces of advice you could give someone who wants to be a writer. Maybe that’s why I write a blog, so I can sneak little pieces of information into the different posts that I write. A comprehensive list would probably always feel incomplete. Even after writing this, I thought, really I only put one thing? But I think I left it at that because there are so many excuses that someone who wants to write can put in their way that prevents them from getting to the part where they actually write. So, while simple, start writing right now really is at the heart of it.