Advice for Authors

10 Writing Ideas 

1. Write every day, even just a little bit. Write in a journal, write on a blog, work on your novel, just write.

2. Attend as many workshops and conferences as you can, especially the Young Writer’s Workshop at Waldon Pond. We have also listed some great conferences under our favorite’s link.

3. Share your writing with others. This can be scary but is the most important thing you can do as a writer. Share your writing with your fan club that will build you up and tell you how great you are. Also share your writing with people that you know will give you honest feedback and help you improve.

4. Join a writer’s group that meets regularly in your area. If there isn’t a writer’s group in your area, start a writing club of your own. Don’t be afraid to ask to join a writer’s group with older writers. They will most likely welcome you and will share with you all their wisdom that comes with experience.

5. Read as many books as you can. Read books in your favorite genre but also read books in genres that you don’t usually enjoy. As you read, ask yourself these questions: What does this writer do well? What techniques does this writer use that I could try in my own writing?

6. Keep a notebook with you at all times to write down conversations you overhear, funny things that you see, or writing ideas that strike you at the craziest times.

7. Be willing to make changes to your writing. Every great writer spends most of his or her time revising. Learn this skill early and do it often. As French writer Sidnie Gabrielle Collette said, “Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head. Then you are a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.”

8. Enter NANWRIMO. Information about this wonderful yearly competition is found under our favorites.

9. Submit your writing for publication. You can send your writing in to magazines and enter contests. You can write for your school newspaper or student publication. You can send your writing to agents. Don’t just leave your words in a binder under your bed. Start your collection of rejection letters now. You will cherish them when you become famous.

10. Be a writer. In as many ways as is possible, share your writing, your gifts, your talents, your voice, and your words with others. If you feel a desire to write, then God has put it in your heart to be a writer and to deny that call is to turn your back on your life’s mission.