Have you ever wanted to write something? Maybe it was just a blog post or an article of some kind. Maybe you have a dream of writing a book on how to do something you happen to know a thing or two about. Could it be there is some epic story you have in mind and long to share it with the whole world?
What does it take to be a writer?
It is easy to over-think this question. When we read our favorite book, we no doubt placed that author on a pedestal. We’ve read dozens or even hundreds of books and it is so easy to say to ourselves “I can’t write like that.”
Does that sound familiar? Would you like to know the secret behind every single great author there ever was? Good. It’s a bumpy ride, but if you’ll see it through to the end then you have a chance to join the ranks of the greats.
That doubt you hear that tells you that you aren’t good enough is right. You can’t write like that. At least not at first, but before you give up, could you answer a few questions?
Are you a chess-master?
Can you run a marathon?
Have you uncovered a scientific secret that didn’t exist before you discovered it?
The answer to each of these is probably “no.” If you can say yes to any of them, I believe it is safe to assume you did so after a great deal of work. Nobody is a born chess-master, marathon runner, or prize-winning scientist. They are skills, and to develop those skills you have to practice.
What is a Writer?
When I started writing a book, I had only one bit of guidance, taken from the wisest man I know… the Mad Hatter. “Start at the beginning, and when you come to the end, stop.” Beyond that, I didn’t have a clue. How long should a chapter be? How many pages should my book have? Am Igood enough to write this monster story (looking at least four books in the first story)? Can I really write that many books? Will they be any good?
None of that stuff mattered. I have since learned a lot about writing through webinars, books, blogs. For those interested, I learned from the free resources available from Jerry Jones, Vivian Reis, and Jenna Moreci. Are they the best at what they do? I don’t know, but I learned a lot from them. The book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, which I bought early in my writing career, was both helpful and inspirational.
For the most part, the Hatter was right. That’s all there is to it. Tell your story, and as King puts it “always tell the truth.” Don’t whitewash your story. Don’t put characters into situations and then force a certain resolution knowing full well they would never actually do that.
Are you good enough to be a writer? Yes, you are. Writers write. If you write, you are a writer. It really is that simple. Just be aware, like any other skill, you will start out terrible. You will then go back to edit what you wrote. You will cringe, cry, and then fix it. When you’ve written the book about four times over, you’ll have something you can be proud of.
Now go write.
Awesome advice!