by Brenda
A. White
I started writing as a hobby during my teen years. I became
more serious in 2000 and I published my first novel in March 2010 and man oh
man, have I learned a lot about writing since then and I’m still learning. With
a high school diploma, two degrees, and a boatload of experience under my belt,
I thought this journey would be fairly easy. It’s not! Even with a passion for writing, it's not! It requires a lot of
additional learning and focus. Thank God I'm a life-long learner, because I love this stuff!
At every book signing or speaking event, people ask for
advice on how to start writing. There are many ways to get started, but here
are seven things that I've learned and will hopefully get you started:
1. Read. Watch movies.
Read a lot, books in your genre, books outside of your genre.
2. Take
writing classes/workshops so you can learn with and from other people, but do
not copy another author’s work.
3. Invest in
your craft. Get a Writing Coach.
4. Determine
your own style to write and flow with it. Just write, don’t edit while you’re
writing, you’ll waste too much time. Throw all the words on the page while your
thoughts are fresh. You can go back and fix it later. I’m still learning this…
5. Give your
editor the best draft possible. Editors are human and they can miss things,
too. So you need to go through at least four drafts before they get it,
including one where you read it out loud.
6. Understand
that there are different levels to this professional editing thing (Copy,
Content, Proofreading) Make sure you understand what comes with the quoted
price from an editor.
7. Typesetting
is tedious. Pay someone else to do it. I’ve moved on to the next book while the
typesetting process is happening.
There’s so much more to publishing and so many options out
there... Self-publishing, vanity publishing, Amazon, ISBN #s, Barcodes, cover
design, marketing, etc.
Where are
you in your writing journey? Drop a note below and let me know.
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