E.A. Bucchianeri
My advice is don’t ‘aspire’ ~ just do it! To aspire means you hope to become a writer, and ‘hoping’ is not enough, you have to write. Writing is an action skill as well as a creative process, and as with all things, practise makes perfect. Very few authors are born masters of the pen or are word-craft prodigies, so don’t let the fear of wondering if you are capable of producing a masterpiece or not keep you from fulfilling your aspirations. You can always improve upon what you did before when you start a new writing project.
Begin small and grow from there, trying out different genres and formats. Write about your interests. Perhaps you can start a blog or be a guest blogger for someone else, submit articles, or maybe write short stories and enter them into competitions. Joining fan fiction sites can be fun too, just be careful and learn to separate the not-so-helpful, over-enthusiastic desire to encourage you from the honest critiques that can actually help you spot your weaknesses and help you improve. For instance, people on fan fiction sites generally want to be helpful, but being ‘too nice’ and saying everything you pen is fantastic and wonderful might prove to be a bright delusion that can blind you if your writing actually blares ‘amateur at work’!
Writing book reviews is another way you can develop your creativity, which is also a reminder to read: you can’t become a master at writing if you don’t read as much as you can and get a ‘feel’ for how it should be done. Have you come across some obscure word or two you never heard of before while reading? Don’t skip them over, look them up and grow your vocabulary. Can a builder build without bricks, wood, cement or stone? No, and since a writer must be a master of words, make sure you have the tools of the trade, invest in a dictionary and thesaurus. Keep a copy of everything you write so you can see how you are progressing, re-read your past work and do critique yourself: be honest and try to see if you could do something better each time you sit down and scribble a draft. Who knows? In the end, that small project you began might prove to be the spring-board for a novel or play.
Don’t be afraid to get some advice from people too, share your drafts with a few trusted souls that you know will give an honest opinion and not just puff you up with constant praise that makes them feel good too, but doesn’t really help you advance in your craft. Also, don’t get too uppity when someone offers negative criticism: first consider if it is just a conflict of writing or reading tastes, if so, then you may ignore. If not and the critic has made some valid points, then be strong and do what you have to do to make your story or piece better. For instance, no matter how much you love a section or a scene, but you find it’s destroying the whole progress of the plot, or does nothing to develop or reveal aspects of your characters, be brave and ‘kill your darlings’ in the editing process. In the end, you might be surprised to see that your style is evolving for the better!
Courage! Don’t aspire—begin.
Begin small and grow from there, trying out different genres and formats. Write about your interests. Perhaps you can start a blog or be a guest blogger for someone else, submit articles, or maybe write short stories and enter them into competitions. Joining fan fiction sites can be fun too, just be careful and learn to separate the not-so-helpful, over-enthusiastic desire to encourage you from the honest critiques that can actually help you spot your weaknesses and help you improve. For instance, people on fan fiction sites generally want to be helpful, but being ‘too nice’ and saying everything you pen is fantastic and wonderful might prove to be a bright delusion that can blind you if your writing actually blares ‘amateur at work’!
Writing book reviews is another way you can develop your creativity, which is also a reminder to read: you can’t become a master at writing if you don’t read as much as you can and get a ‘feel’ for how it should be done. Have you come across some obscure word or two you never heard of before while reading? Don’t skip them over, look them up and grow your vocabulary. Can a builder build without bricks, wood, cement or stone? No, and since a writer must be a master of words, make sure you have the tools of the trade, invest in a dictionary and thesaurus. Keep a copy of everything you write so you can see how you are progressing, re-read your past work and do critique yourself: be honest and try to see if you could do something better each time you sit down and scribble a draft. Who knows? In the end, that small project you began might prove to be the spring-board for a novel or play.
Don’t be afraid to get some advice from people too, share your drafts with a few trusted souls that you know will give an honest opinion and not just puff you up with constant praise that makes them feel good too, but doesn’t really help you advance in your craft. Also, don’t get too uppity when someone offers negative criticism: first consider if it is just a conflict of writing or reading tastes, if so, then you may ignore. If not and the critic has made some valid points, then be strong and do what you have to do to make your story or piece better. For instance, no matter how much you love a section or a scene, but you find it’s destroying the whole progress of the plot, or does nothing to develop or reveal aspects of your characters, be brave and ‘kill your darlings’ in the editing process. In the end, you might be surprised to see that your style is evolving for the better!
Courage! Don’t aspire—begin.
More Answered Questions
E.A. Bucchianeri
asked
E.A. Bucchianeri:
* Are your books still in print? When will they be made available? *
Roger Andrew
asked
E.A. Bucchianeri:
Dear E.A.B. I'm an Australian author from Perth. I've written a book called 'Forgive' which was initially sparked by an estrangement journey ... but later became much more than that. I came across a brilliant quote from you which I would like your blessing to include in the book. Could you please provide me with your email address so that I can explain more? Mine is roger.andrew1@outlook.com. Thank you! Roger
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