The Secrets of a New Writer

The writing was something I had thought about for many years but felt that it just took too much time. My father was really good at writing short stories and had several published. You hardly ever saw him that he didn’t have a book in his back pocket or his car. Dad’s motto was, “No matter what you want to learn or what you want to do, somewhere out there is a book that will tell you what you need to know.” Now I have a similar motto. Only it involves YouTube and Books.

There are three suggestions I would like to share with you if you want to write.

1. Gain as much knowledge as you can on the process of writing. This can be through reading, attending educational presentations, watching YouTube, and writing conferences. Writing is more than just sitting down and writing. It develops and understands the characters you are writing about and how they interact with other characters. In some books, that is the main focus. You have to understand their worlds and backgrounds. Who, what, and how do they know what they know. In many cases, the development of your characters is more important than the actual storyline.
2. Have regular writing time. Whether you are working another job, raising children, or involved with other activities, it is essential to have a regularly scheduled time to focus on writing or editing.
3. One of the more helpful things I have found is to join a writers group and sprint with them regularly. Writing by yourself can be okay, but it is a lonely process. Joining and socializing with other writers significantly increases. I belong to the Northern California Romance Writers, the Oklahoma Romance Writers, and various Shut up and Write groups. The information I have gained from these groups has helped me immensely.

Most of us have a story fighting to get out of us and share. The main obstacle is ourselves. Brandon Sanderson said, “you have just to sit your butt in the chair and put your hands on the keyboard.”