People Frequently Ask Me: How did you get into writing?
In the last three years, I’ve answered this question several different ways. But I always start off with, when I was a little girl. My dream was never to write books. In fact, my dream was to play baseball. However, back in the seventies girls weren’t exactly welcomed on a boys’ high school baseball team. But that topic is for another day.
I’ve always wanted to write a book. I just loved math more than I did English. So, I graduated from college with a math degree. For me, English was challenging, although I had several teachers recommend to me that I pursue English and not math. Still, I loved reading. Growing up, my favorite author was Stephen King. Over the years, I had a multitude of tastes in genres from mystery to suspense. It wasn’t until three years ago when I started reading Paranormal Romance. At that point, I was like, I could write a book with vampires. Within four months, my first book, On the Edge of Humanity, was written.
The how I got there involved several steps:
I checked out just about every writing book at the library and devoured the art of novel writing.
I took classes at Writer’s Digest University.
I found and worked with a great editor who coached me every chapter in my first book, telling me what was working and what wasn’t working.
I hired a writing coach. Best thing I ever did. She keeps me on track by helping me set up goals for each manuscript. In addition, she continues to help me swim through the ever-changing publishing industry. Most of all, she’s a great motivator, keeping me inline to ensure I meet my deadlines.
In between writing my first book, I surfed the net, reading blogs, finding a cover artist, formatter, and all the other elements that go into publishing a book.
In essence, I was a sponge on everything entailed in writing a book. It’s been three years since I published my first book. I now have five books published, and a sixth one that will be released in February 2016. I do believe if I didn’t work a full-time job, I would have several more out on the market. Regardless, I found what I love to do.
Writing started out as a hobby. Now, I treat my writing as my business, and in another blog post I’ll share my business plan along with other elements that have helped me, hoping they can help you.
Follow your dream by taking one step at a time.
Best
Xoxo
Susan
