So You Want to Be a Writer

Published by Sherri Fulmer Moorer at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Sherri Fulmer Moorer

Cover Photo by cohdra

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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So you want to be a writer? There are a few things you will need in order to prepare for this journey. I hope this guide will help you prepare for the wonderful journey of being a writer. I’ll cover the basics in three sections: What You Need, How to Prepare, and What to Expect.

Chapter 1 - What You Need

1.A computer. Publishers only accept manuscripts typed in a common word processing program (like Microsoft Word) and prepared in a digital format according to strict guidelines. Laptop computers have come down in price with the advent of mobile devices, e-readers, and tablets’, so getting a computer isn’t as expensive as you think. You can even get them secondhand for cheap. I sold my old laptop through a local paper for $85.00 last summer. Family, friends, churches, and local businesses are all good sources for finding computers.

2.A back up drive. Computers are great, but you can’t depend on a hard drive as the only source for storing your files. The eventual break, crash, or virus can wipe out everything, and I can say from experience that back up files have saved me numerous times at home and work. CD’s and flash drives are relatively cheap and can be found anywhere, from discount stores to office supply warehouses. Or if you want to spend a little more to back up more files, you can buy an external hard drive.

3.E-mail access. As I mentioned above, everything is done digitally. It’s easier, faster, and more efficient to correspond by E-mail, and it saves you time and postage. It doesn’t cost a thing if you use popular places like Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, or Gmail.

4.A website. This is imperative if you plan to pursue publication. It helps you to connect with readers and writers to establish an audience, and it shows that you’re serious about getting your work into print. You don’t have to be a guru to set up a website. In fact, there are places where you can set up a website for free or cheap, and design is as simple as dragging and dropping the elements you want to appropriate places on the page. I used Weebly to design a free website and upgraded to my own domain name when I got my publication contracts. I’ve also heard that Yahoo and Go Daddy offer great website service for reasonable prices. You can also check with your E-mail provider to see if they offer an option to set up a website through them with your account.

5.A blog. You’re a writer, so this should be easy and fun. There are many places that offer free blog services, or you can check with your E-mail or Website provider to see if they offer a blog option. This is a great way to start building your readership and to market your work to publishers and potential readers.

Chapter 2 - How to Prepare

1.Give yourself a refresher on grammar. I know it’s unpleasant, but it’s the foundation of writing and you must have a proper grasp on the English language if you hope to get published. I know from experience. My work was consistently rejected for a period of three years. I didn’t understand why, until one of the publishers was kind enough to tell me that my work was good, but it needed extensive editing and that frightened many publishers from accepting a manuscript. I got the picture, refreshed my grammar skills, and was offered two contracts within a three month period of time.

2.Decide what you want to write and research how to do it best. Writing isn’t simply a matter of pounding the keys until what’s in your head is on your hard drive. Stories must have structure and several intermingling elements in order to work effectively, and every kind of writing follows its own structure. There’s one for poetry, one for short stories, one for novels, and an entirely different formula for non-fiction. For now, pick one thing you want to do and study up on it. There are many ways to do this, from workshops and classes to Internet research and reference manuals. Learning is a lifelong process, so commit yourself to the craft of writing and learning all you can about the type you like best.

3.Research the submission and publication process. Submission guidelines vary amongst publishers, but some things are universal, like query letters, book submissions, and the publication process. The writing world is a big one, so take some time to study how the process works and where the best places are to submit your work. Here are a few resources I found particularly helpful:

•Writer’s Market by Robert Lee Brewer. They also break this down into smaller volumes that specialize in markets such as Novels and Short Stories, Children’s Books, and Poetry, so you can buy a shorter version that focuses on your particular type of writing.

•The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry. This is hands down the best book I’ve read that gives you information on everything from writing to publishing and publicity in all available avenues, all in one book!

•EBook Crossroads has a great list of e-publishers. E-books are growing in popularity and I highly recommend considering this as an avenue to publication. You go through the same submission process with e-publishers as you do for traditional publishers, so you’ll still need to know how to draft a good query letter and book proposal to submit to these publishers.

4.Join a writer’s group. You need feedback from readers to make your work as strong and effective as possible. Family and friends are good, but they can’t give you an unbiased opinion of your work because, well, they know you. You can join a local writer’s group or, if there isn’t one, check out online groups. These are great because you can target your audience and get feedback from a wide variety of people from different places and cultures. Two websites that I’ve found extremely helpful are Writing.com at www.writing.com and Authonomy at www.authonomy.com .

5.If you aren’t formally trained to type or if you aren’t comfortable using computers, take a short course at a local technical school. I mentioned before that everything is going digital and this isn’t going away. The days of slipping beautifully handwritten manuscripts over the transom are over. Publishers only accept typewritten submissions and more are requesting e-mail submissions. So snuggle up to your laptop and make it your best friend.

Chapter 3 - What to Expect

1.Writing is a solitary endeavor. You must have an incredible amount of self motivation and truly love writing in order to stick it out through the work of brainstorming, outlining, researching, developing, and writing draft after draft of your work. This is why writer’s groups and social media are helpful to writers. They allow you to connect with others that have similar interests and face the same adventures and challenges as you do, and it keeps that motivation going.

2.Writing is a slow business. I’ve often said what takes a year in the rest of the world takes ten years in the writing world. Writing new work takes time, researching takes time, building your skill as a writer takes time, submitting takes time, reviews take time – the whole process crawls at a snail’s pace. It takes a long time to build yourself and your work up to a publishable level. I once read that it takes an average of ten years to get that first hit, and it was certainly true for me. Heck, I’m still building myself up as an independent author, and I’ve been writing since I got my first personal computer in 2000.

3.Writing is a subjective business and therefore is a rejection-heavy business. Everybody has different tastes, and it’s unfortunate that getting published is largely an issue of impressing the right person at the right time. It’s an art that takes time to master. It’s tough too, because rejection chips away at even the most confident amongst us. You have to remember two things: First, it’s not personal. Remember they’re rejecting your work, not you, and it’s only their opinion. Second, it only takes one acceptance to make you a published writer, and fortune favors the persistent in this way. If you give up, you’ll never be a published writer. If you keep trying, you’ll improve and will eventually connect with the right publisher for your work.

4.Writing is a business that requires a tremendous investment of time and energy. You must work at writing to become good at it, just like anything else. Finding time to invest in writing can be a challenge, especially when you have a home, family, job and other obligations in your life, but it’s absolutely essential to schedule regular time to work at it if you want to make progress. Do what you can, when you can, and learn how to schedule so you can fit writing into your life. That great novel in your head won’t get any further than your brain until you make time to write it.

Chapter 4 - In Closing

A lot of people fantasize about the life of a writer: How it’s a wonderful, leisurely life of working from home in your pajamas while sipping a steaming cup of coffee over a computer as the next great novel flows from your brilliant mind. I assure you, this is a fantasy. I recently read that the 2010 census only reported 200 people in the United States that listed writing as their livelihood, with no other source of income. That means most writers are working at this around homes, families, and careers.

Above and beyond all else, I encourage you to enjoy writing. Yes, it is work and there will be some things that you don’t like, but the enjoyment and fulfillment that you get from every other part of the process should make the occasional thing that you find unpleasant worth it. You should become a writer because you love to write and share your stories with the world. If its drudgery and you dread it, then it’s not worth it.

Yes, writing is work and it takes a lot more than an idea, a computer, and some spare time. These are the basic elements you need, but there’s so much more to being a writer. I hope this guide gives you the basics you need to get started on this great adventure.

Good luck and Godspeed!

Chapter 5 – About the Author

Sherri Fulmer Moorer is a freelance writer and is also the author of two other books: an inspirational book titled Battleground Earth – Living by Faith in a Pagan World (PublishAmerica 2004) and a young adult mystery novel titled Blurry (Wings ePress 2011). Her next novel, a supernatural mystery titled Anywhere But Here (Whiskey Creek Press), will be released in April 2012. Sherri has also self published a suspense novella titled Quarantine (Smashwords 2011) and a long story titled Resonance (Smashwords 2011). She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of South Carolina and works as a Program Assistant for the State of South Carolina. Sherri is a lifelong member of Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church in West Columbia, SC, where she serves on the Evangelism Committee and is a greeter. She lives in Columbia, SC with her husband, Rick; and their birds, Zack, Chloe, and Oliver. For more on Sherri, please visit her website at http://www.sherrithewriter.com .