How to Become a Writer – A Beginner’s Guide
So, You Want to Be A Writer?
Are you one of those people who always fancy writing? Do you often find yourself thinking that maybe you don’t have it in you what it takes to be a writer?
Or, are you one of those people who always doubt that their writing is not good enough?
No matter what your case is, it is going to change after you are done reading this blog. So, before I formally began with everything that you need to know about how to become a writer, I want you to tell yourself one more time, “I want to be a writer.”
Done? Let’ make you a writer:
Before You Began…
It will be not just of me if I don’t give you a fair warning in the start. If you want to be a writer, then you must know that it is going to be hard, very hard.
But, that is precisely what makes it great, and this is the reason that you should give yourself a shot at writing no matter what.
Before you write your first original piece, you have to do a lot of homework. So, if you’ve been asking around, “I want to be a writer, where do I start.”, then here is your answer.
Read, Write, Read – Repeat
The first step to start your journey as a writer is not very difficult, but it requires a lot of commitment and consistency.
If you want to be a writer, then you’ve to spend more time reading than in writing. Yes, you heard it right. To be a good writer, you have to be an excellent reader.
It is essential because when you spend most of your time reading, you are subconsciously learning about how to hook your reader from your very first sentence to the last page of the book.
The next step is writing for the sake of practice. No artist, no matter how accomplished he/she is, can stay at the top of their work if they don’t practice.
Therefore, even if you have not started writing professionally yet, you must write just to make sure that you remain in practice.
Discover Your Genera
Every writer writes in the genera that suit their comfort the best. It is not something that you can artificially develop in you.
You have to figure out what you want to write naturally and what is that gives you pleasure and satisfaction when you write about it.
Although a writer should be flexible and capable enough to give their two cents on any topic or genera, it is still vital to identify your niche.
Not only will it help you to gain a particular fan base, but it’ll also help you to channel your inner self through your pen.
Choose Your Ideals
The answer to the question of how to become an author lies in one-word answer, and that is “Originality.” You have to create your identity based on your original and authentic ideas.
However, it is not possible to create unique and popular content as long as you don’t have an ideal in mind.
So, make sure that you learn from your favourite writers through their writing. Choosing ideals doesn’t mean that you have to follow them.
It simply means that you learn what techniques they apply to capture the attention of their readers and leave a mark in their mind.
Learn to Take Criticism
Nobody becomes a famous and celebrated writer after their first-ever writing attempt. If you are wondering how to become a writer, then you must know how to take criticism.
Sure, some people may want to demean your efforts through their critique, but you must understand that there is always room for improvement.
So, whatever you attempt to write, make sure that you show it to someone and get their critique. Repeat this practice until you are sure that you’ve learned enough to write content that you can publish confidently.
Know how to Defend Your Writings
Let’s face some bitter and harsh facts for a minute. Nobody is more interested in your career than you. Nobody wants to invest their energies and money in making you an excellent writer.
There are near to zero chances out there of someone offering you a hand to make your career as a writer.
Therefore, the only way to make sure that whatever you write is accepted by your editor and publisher is to let your work speak.
Make sure that you understand the audience. Once you write something after conducting the through research, it’ll easy for you to defend your work and be your own advocate.
What Type of Writer do You Want to Be?
We are living in a digital age. Everything is now diverse than ever. The same is the case with being a writer.
Unlike a century ago, now you don’t have to write books and papers to become a recognized writer.
The writing field has evolved, and there are more than one option if you want to be a writer.
Here are some of the basic types of writings that are popular these days. Give them a read and decide what kind of writer you want to be.
Content Writer
A content writer is a person who plans, writes, and edits web content. It means that if you are going to be a content writer, you’ll be writing content typically for marketing purposes.
Content writing often includes blog writing, script writing for videos and podcasts, and content for specific digital platforms like Twitter.
Most people think that content writing is just about writing articles and blogs for different websites. However, in reality, it is more than that.
Anything that you write for various marketing purposes comes under the umbrella of content writing.
For example, email newsletters, keynote speeches, white papers, web page copy, landing pages, YouTube video descriptions, etc. are all types of content writing.
Technical Writer
Many people confuse technical writing with content writing. But, if you are aiming to become a professional writer, then you must know the difference.
Technical writing constitutes the practice of documenting processes such as software manual or instructional material that are highly specific in their niches.
If you want to become a technical writer, then you need to have vast knowledge and implacable research skills in the following areas:
- High-tech manufacturing
- Engineering
- Biotechnology
- Blockchain
- Internet of Things
- Energy
- Aerospace
- Information and technology
- Global Supply Chain
It is not expected of you to be a master of all the fields mentioned above. However, it is critical to have a basic technical knowledge of these areas so that you can do the topic centric research of your projects.
A Novelist
Fiction writing is one of the oldest forms of writing literature. To become a novelist, you don’t have to be just good enough.
You have to write very well- well enough to stand out the fierce competition out there. It takes extreme skill and persistence to become a novelist.
Your creativity and imagination are tested when you sit down to write a novel.
Therefore, you just don’t have to learn the craft, to need to master it if you want to make a name out there.
A Book Author
The world of literature is like a never-ending ocean. You don’t have to come up with a perfect story in order to add your bucket of contribution in this ocean.
There are thousands of topics from you can choose a topic for your book.
If you want to become a book author, then you must be sure enough about your skill and determination. It is not an easy thing to stay committed to writing a book.
There are thousands of writers who find themselves stuck after they start to write a book.
If you don’t want to become one of those writers, then don’t start writing a book until you are one hundred per cent sure of what you are doing.
And once you start it, don’t rest until you are finished. Writing a book is a full-time commitment. So, make sure that you are ready to offer your undivided attention to your book if you really want to become an author.
Or Maybe Something More?
It is perfectly normal if you think that none of these writing options suits your fancy. It doesn’t mean that you can’t be a writer.
If anything, it means that you have something more in you that you yet need to discover.
So, all you have to do is sit down on a table and start writing your heart out on whatever thoughts comes first in your head. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be long.
Just write, write, and write. I am sure; once you are done with it, you’ll have some more than any of the categories mentioned above.
How to Become a Writer – Steps to Becoming a Writer
At this point, you know almost every essential thing that a beginner should know about being a writer. Now, it’s time to take you through the process of doing the deed.
I’ve narrowed down some tried and tested steps and tips. These steps are important, regardless of the type of writing you want to do. So, give them a read and see what you didn’t know about writing before:
First Thing First – Study the Craft
Gone are the days when you have to spend a huge part of your life in trial and error method. Now, many great writers have already done the groundwork for you.
All you have to do is learn from their experience.
So, do yourself a favour and follow proven methods rather than wasting any more time on those boring hit and trial methods.
It is important because the competition out there is getting fierce with every day passing. Therefore, the only way to stand out is to follow and learn how great writers write.
You’ll be thankful to yourself after spending most of your time reading and learning.
Surround Yourself with the Right People
If you think that writing is something that you can do all on your own, then probably you are the best writer ever born.
All most all the great writers in the history of literature had a company of other writers where they used to go for motivation and much-needed encouragement.
Therefore, regardless of the type of writer you want to be, if you surround yourself with people who share similar interests, it’ll help you to stay focused.
The best thing about having such a company is that you can always go to them whenever you feel like giving up on writing or demotivated.
Search for Inspiration
This step is perhaps the most important one so far. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a book, a novel, an article, or a simple blog for a website. You should always start off after having inspiration for the topic.
Remember, earlier when I talked about researching? That research is going to help you now to get the inspiration that you need to do the job.
So, my advice (based on my personal experience) is that you should always take as much time as you need before you start writing to do the research.
Because, if you just rush into it, the quality of the content that you’ll write will definitely be compromised. You obviously don’t want that to happen, right?
Know the What, the Why, and the Where
One of the most important thing about writing on any kind of project is that you should never stop asking questions to yourself. More questions mean that you’ll have more answers and believe me when I say that you’ll be needing a lot of answers when you actually start writing.
So, if you don’t want to get stuck at any point, you must ask yourself the following questions:
- What are you writing about?
- Why do you want to write it?
- Where your writing will be published?
These questions may sound typical and useless to you, but they can make all the difference in your writing project.
Take One Step at a Time
More often than not, beginners become overly enthusiastic and want to do all at once. You may think that you have the energy to do it all in one day, but it’ll be exhausting, and you’ll end up in a mess.
So, you mustn’t exhaust yourself and take one step at a time. I am this again, and I can still not stress enough on it, to be a fulltime writer can be very exhausting.
More often than not, you’ll find yourself out of ideas and words. Therefore, the only way to avoid such rough patches during your writing career is that you don’t overdo it.
Make A Schedule and Stick to It
Lastly, you’ll require a lot of discipline and organization in your life if you aim to become a writer.
So, it only makes sense that you make a schedule that is promising enough to boost your productivity and maintains a work-life balance.
Remember, making a schedule is not just enough, and it’ll be useless if you are not sticking to it as if your life depends on it (trust me, I am not exaggerating).
How to Become a Good Writer
Being an average writer should never be your goal. You should always aim for the moon. So, even if you miss, you may catch some stars.
Up till now, you must have enough information on how to become a writer but let’s take it up a little notch and make you a good writer.
Here’s what you need to do in order to refine your written pieces:
Edit With Fresh Eyes
Once you are done with your project, don’t just rush into editing it. Instead, take a break and clear your head. Go out and get some air.
Drink coffee if it helps (It always helps). In short, do whatever that helps you relax, and once you feel relaxed, only then you must edit your work.
It is important because you need fresh eyes and clear thoughts to make sure that you catch every mistake that you may have made in your writing.
Trust your Gut
Always be confident of what you’ve written. Only you know that the effort that you’ve done to complete your project. So, don’t worry and have faith in yourself while you are editing your work and always, I repeat, always trust what your gut says.
A Final Word
Being a writer is something most of us dream about as kids. But somewhere in the businesses of life, we forget how much we loved to be a writer. If you think that it’s too late for you, then you, my friend, are wrong.
It’s never too late. Start writing now and discover yourself through your pen.
Do You Want A Perfect Piece of Writing?
If you still have your doubts about being a writer, then worry no more. Let Globex Writing Services take care of your worries. Do contact us for any and all kinds of writing projects that you want to ace.
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