There
are dozens of articles on the Web with different tips on how to become a
good writer, what tricks to use to attract a new audience, what words
and word expressions to use for your stories to sound better, etc. But
why no one tells you how NOT to be a writer? Are you sure, you write all
your articles and stories in a right way? Do your readers ALWAYS like
the results of your writing? Do publishers always accept your works?
It is very easy to find the information about how to become a good
writer. Everyone who writes a couple of words at least is proud to call
himself an author already, and he believes that he has a right to advise
others how to write like a pro. Maybe it would be better to tell about
some signs, that will tell you are writing your stories in a wrong way
and have a wrong idea about what a good author looks like? Well, we’ve
tried to gather all these signs, and we are here to share them all with
you.
So, you are NOT an author, if:
1. You do not write.
No comments. A writer should write. Your Twitter or Facebook posts do
not work here, neither does your personal blog, where you share your
thoughts about weather and mood. Certainly, a writer writes for himself
first of all, but an author writes for people.
2. You write when you are in mood only.
Certainly, it is always better to write when you have inspiration and
mood for it. But you will never become a writer, if you just sit and
wait for this inspiration to come (it may not come at all actually).
Your task is to train your creativity, and sometimes it means just
sitting in front of your computer and forcing yourself to write
something at least. The more you train yourself – the better results you
will see soon.
3. You write for money only.
Writing is not about money actually. We doubt, that J.K. Rowling or
E.L. James thought about millions of dollars to get out of their
writings. They just wrote and shared their stories with people.
Certainly, some chances are that your novel will become a bestseller,
and you will have a chance to quit your job and rest at the Maldives for
the rest of your life. But let it happen when it happens, and do not be
in a hurry to leave everything for your writing. If you start thinking
of writing as a way to earn money, your best ideas will be killed, as
you will try to write only about something potentially commercial. It is
not good for the process of creativity, is it?
4. You want to become the next Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, or E.L. James at least.
When you focus on someone’s success and try to do everything to
repeat it, this is a wrong goal to focus actually. Even the worse thing
is your attempts to copy the writing style of other writers and use the
same ideas with a hope to become famous in such a way. This approach
will never make you a good author, and the only thing you’ll get will be
a degree of a plagiarist, or a lack of energy and ideas to continue
your writing at least.
5. You do not read much.
Stephen King, a guru of all writers for sure, says that he can’t
spend a day without reading. It inspires you, helps you understand the
writing styles of other authors better, improves your own writing, gives
you new ideas, helps you learn something new… Reading is just like food
for a writer, and if you do not like this process, you have probably
chosen the wrong occupation.
6. You always follow the rules.
Every genre has its rules of course, and when you write your story,
you always try to follow them. But it does not mean you should be stuck
there! Some rules exist to break them, and if you feel that your story
will sound much better without some necessary aspects of a genre, do not
be afraid to change something the way you feel it.
7. You can’t bear any critique.
The biggest mistake you can make being a writer is to ignore critique
and think, that you are genius enough to write a perfect story without
any critics at all. Yes, critique hurts, but if your ego is too tender
to bear it, you will never be a successful writer. Only the strongest
authors will survive, so, learn to accept critique and analyze it in a
right way.
8. You talk about your writing more than you actually write.
Certainly, it is not bad to share some your ideas with your friends
or family, but talking is still not writing. One can not be called a
writer for his ideas only: we all have some imagination and ideas in our
mind, but not all of us write books anyway. So, it would be better to
write a page per day at least, than tell everyone about how cool your
future book will become one day.
9. You believe everything people say
So, your uncle Fred likes your protagonist much. Your best friend
Mark can’t help admiring the end of your story, but he would change the
protagonist for sure. Michelle says, you would better make your
protagonist a girl and change the end of your story completely…. Do not
listen to all of them! There is no story in the world, that all people
would like! Just listen carefully to all their remarks, and write your
story the way you see it.
Do you recognize yourself here? If two or more items are about you,
maybe it is high time to change your approach to your writing, and start
doing it the way it will be better for both you and your readers? Good
luck, and happy writing!
