FOUR STEPS TO BECOMING A WRITER

Becoming a writer is more than what people expect or imagine.

Very few people reach international best-selling author status by just sitting down and writing. Most don't even reach national best-selling author status doing this.

However, no one starts as an international best-selling author. All of us start as newbie writers trying to find our footing and hoping we don't make too many mistakes along the way.

If the truth be told, there is a process. Steven King actually wrote a book all about writing. He talked about all the tools in the writer's toolbox. The tools in this toolbox help would-be and seasoned writers meet their writing goals when used properly—just like any tool.

You may also have heard people talk about writers as pansters or planners, but most people are plansters.  What are these?

Pantsers are people that write by the seat of their pants. Planners are writers that plan out their entire book. Plantsers are those that do a little of both–most people are plansters.

But does any of this really have anything to do with becoming a best-selling author?

The answer is “yes.”

You know yourself the best. You know your weaknesses that will affect your commitment to writing.

Think about it this way:  How often have you put off something you wanted to do because of work or because someone wanted you to do something else? You gave up what you wanted to do for work or for the other person.

This same thing will happen unless you use some tools to help you truly commit to being a writer. Before being a published author, you have to be a writer, so using these tools is just one part of the process.

So how can we go from having the fantastic idea to being a published author? What are some of the tools? 

Here are four tools that you should work with before you ever start writing.

1.    Know your topic.

Make sure you really know your topic. You need to make sure you are comfortable enough with your topic to write about it. It doesn't matter if it is nonfiction or fiction. You have to know your topic. If you don't know it well, then research it.

2.    Use audience-centric wording.

Think about who you want to read your book and who you think will read your book. If you can answer these, you will know the appropriate wording, phrases, and vocabulary that the audience will easily identify with and understand. For example, you wouldn't use a lot of high-level jargon in a beginner's book just like you wouldn't jump into a fight scene without giving background that brings the reader to the fight. You have to write for your audience, so you need to know them.

3.    Make a writing schedule.

Create a schedule that you will follow to help you work on your book every day or every week. Only you know how much time you have to devote to writing your book, so be realistic and put the schedule on your calendar. If you can only work on the book on Saturdays from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., then block off that time and use it for writing. Be accountable to yourself, and don't push it aside for work or others. This is important to so stick to your schedule.

4.    Write the whole draft—from beginning to end—before you start editing.

Otherwise, you may never finish, and if you do, it will have taken you two to three times as long to finish. If you start editing before you are done, you'll just keep rewriting the same thing over and over. Write the whole draft, and only then should you start the editing process.

Yes, being an international best-selling author will get you speaking engagements, wonderful advances, and a nice income, but you need to be a writer first.

These are only a few of the tools that can help you make the transition from writer to best-selling author. The choice is yours if you decide to use these tools, but do know this:  many authors earning a nice living follow them. Why recreate the wheel and make mistakes when others have already found solutions before you?

Start with these tools and give yourself a strong foundation for becoming a published author and possibly the next best-selling author.

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Content credit: C. Storm

Image credit: Jason Leung

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KNOW YOUR TOPIC