So You Want To Be An Author?

   I wanted to take a little time and tell anyone who would like to be an author about my own personal experience. When I got started, I read all these how to be an author articles that told what to do and what not to. Honestly, most of the content was unhelpful. Maybe for you those articles are perfect, but as a person who has to learn hands on, I took a different approach. Let me tell you about my dos and don’ts of becoming an author. Keep in mind that I’m still growing as an author every day, and I still have so much left to learn. I’ll start with my first experience.

   I had a theory from the beginning about writing. I loved it like I pictured loving another person. My stories, characters, and the worlds I was able to escape into were as real to me as any love could be. I started thinking that if they’re like people to me, then maybe I could test out how cut out I really was for this. I used what I’ve started to call the marriage approach. When you get married, you’re not used to seeing someone every minute of the day. You used to think you couldn’t get enough of them, but then you start living together. Their dirty clothes, annoying habits, and ridiculous television shows start to wear on you, and you eventually wonder if you made a mistake. Yeah, too much of a good thing can be bad. Something happens the first time you’re away from each other, though. You either rejoice because you’re free and never want to go back, or you think of them and maybe even miss some of their annoying habits. Even if they get on your nerves, you couldn’t picture life without them. I took the same approach with writing. I wrote every moment I could for the first month I did this. I literally wrote three books in that time, which for a person who had never written anything more than a five-page paper was amazing. At the end of it, I was proud, but honestly, writing had become a job. I was sick of it, so I decided to take a little vacation. The first day I walked away from my computer, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was going to write next, and on the second, I started writing Strange Visions. Even if I didn’t always enjoy it, writing had become a part of who I was. I loved it. Is that who you are? Writing can be something you want to do, and that’s fine, but I think people who make this a way of life have no choice in the matter. They feel called to do it. It’s like an addiction or a great love that we would miss even in the worst of times.

   The second thing involves style. When I got started, everyone threw a bunch of suggestions at me. They said read this author and that author and encouraged me to emulate certain people’s styles. That’s great for some, but think about it for a second. If someone wants to read a JK Rolling book, why are they checking you out? Wouldn’t they just read her work? When someone sees that a New author is writing a book, they expect a new perspective. Be you. You can read all you want for enjoyment or for references on little details, but you were given a unique perspective in this world. It would be a shame for you to just try to package some type of product that piggybacked off of the John Grishom’s of the world. First and foremost, being an author is about imagination and originality. If you want to make this your career or even a second one, you have to realize that your best friend is not another author. It’s your inner most thoughts.

   The third thing I couldn’t disagree with more that I read was never to make your work personal. I was told you should make a product that you believe people will want to read while leaving all personal aspects out of the story. Now, I’m not disagreeing that you should try to make it appeal to everyday people, but this is your story. If you don’t have a little bit of yourself in there, then I have to question if that won’t come across. Books that are written to mimic what people want to hear often come off as boring and phony. They rarely present any new thoughts. If you have a different kind of sense of humor, then don’t be afraid to let that bleed into your work, or if you’re madly in love with someone, then you know exactly how that feels. Make a character who’s going through the same things as you. You’ll be able to convey things in a very real way. Putting your words out there for all to see is about the most daring thing you can do anyway. Why not make them original and meaningful? After all, this is a reflection of what you have to say.

   Finally, and most importantly, I’ve heard that you must be able to take criticism. That is very true, but if you’re the right kind of author, it won’t ever be you that’s criticized. It’ll be your story and characters, which you’ll view as the closest of friends. Don’t let any article or person lie to you. When someone hates the characters that you’ve spent so much time with, you’ll be offended. You’ll be angry in the same way you would if someone criticized your child. It’ll be irrational and maybe even a little childish, but if you really put everything you have into being an author, you won’t be able to help it. The key is not to be a heartless drone who takes nothing personal. It’s to be able to step away from the computer for a day and think on what the person said. Did they have a point, or were they just trying to start trouble? Trust me. There are going to be people who want to tear you down for their own amusement. Some will criticize you when they haven’t even read a word you wrote. You have to face facts, though. Over half of the complaints you get are going to be legitimate. Once you accept that and take a hard look at other people’s perspectives, you can take a step back and ask yourself, would my story have been better served to do things like that person said? Sometimes the answer is yes when you swallow your pride. Sometimes, you know your story better than anyone, and they’re simply wrong. The key is not to ignore all criticism either way, though. It’s to get your feelings hurt, get over it, and then consider what critiques are saying. It can hurt, but if these characters are really like family to you, you’ll want to make them as well as you can. It won’t be about your failure. It’ll be about your embarrassment for these characters and the way you didn’t present them well enough. A lot of writing is about swallowing your pride and doing what’s best for the story.

   That’s all I’ve got. You might wonder why. I mean, I would have thought there was a lot more to writing than that, but there really isn’t. If you sit down in a chair and force yourself to start writing, it’ll either become a bore or a calling. If there were one thing I would add, it would be this. With every word you write, you’ll get better. This is like anything else. We don’t start out being great at what we do, and it takes a long time to get recognition from anyone in this field. Don’t do it for that, and it won’t matter how long it takes. Be that person who does it for the love of every story you ever write. Let it be your joy and sorrow. Most of all, let it be something that you can come back to again and again knowing that it could hold endless possibilities for you both in fantasy and real life.