If you are the type of person that hears a song, watches a beautiful movie, or has an amazing dream that won’t leave you alone for a whole day – and in turn, you are inspired for hours on end…then you are probably a writer. At least, that is how I feel about writing. That is how it all began for me when I was only six years old.
I will share with you the three most important things I have learned about writing. If you remember these three little things, you will be on your way to becoming what you have always wanted to be…a novelist.
1) Always have some kind of notebook handy (I often use my phone’s notepad). Anytime you come up with an idea just write it down. Anything can be used as an inspirational idea…be it a dream, a feeling, a thought, the way someone talks (character development). The Universe throws ideas at you constantly…these are gifts. The more notes you take, the more gifts the Universe will provide for you. This is a guarantee.
2) Read. Read, read, read. Read like there is nothing else you rather be doing. Read at the waiting room, read at night, read in between classes, read at lunch, read on the elliptical. Just read. Try to average a book a week or bi weekly if you can. The more you read, the better you will write. That is another guarantee.
3) Write. To write you must SIT DOWN and JUST DO IT. Its hard. We all have a hard time at first. Who wants to sit in a room by themselves staring at the screen? Nothing that you type seems good enough…Well, here’s a tip. Just keep writing. Take an idea and write three pages without judgement. DO NOT try to go back and revise. Revision is for the end. Let me repeat that. Revision is for the END. Then write another three pages, then another, and another and another. Get to your first full draft…THEN, go back and revise. This is the winning formula. This is what gets you a whole manuscript. TRUST THE PROCESS. It is MAGICAL. This….is a promise.
