There is one thing that all successful writers have in common, from Jules Verne and J.R.R. Tolkien to Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling, via Isaac Asimov and Stephen King: they have written. This statement, which seems silly at first glance, is not so silly if we analyse it a little. If you want to know how to become a professional writer, a successful writer who makes a living from his or her work as a writer, I have the formula: write.
In steps: first write a novel, then sell it to a publisher (or self-publish it), wait for readers to buy it en masse, and that’s it. There are people who spend years saying they want to be writers and don’t dedicate themselves to achieving that dream, they don’t complete work of at least an acceptable standard. To be a writer you have to complete the cycle, with the enormous effort that this requires, unless you are among the 1% who sit down to write and have a masterpiece sprouting from your fingertips that doesn’t even need to be corrected and you have your best friend in one of the most important publishing houses begging you for originals.
Joking aside, let’s get back to business: the vast majority of budding writers are tempted to skip important stages in the writing process of a novel and just get on with writing, with a plot idea in their head and hoping that inspiration will lead them down the right path. It’s a complete waste of time, I say this from experience, I have been writing since university and being a practicing essay writer at an essay writer service, I can claim that for sure.
Writing a novel is not an isolated action, it is a particularly long and complicated process. To stand out as a writer, or even to not give up in mid-career as more than 90% of people who dream of becoming writers do, you have to prepare the project like a large building to be constructed (the analogy to architecture could not be missing).
In principle, it all boils down to three basic things:
Constant motivation. This is what will drive you to sit in front of your desk day after day, even in times when everything is going the other way.
Professional attitude. Writing will no longer be a hobby. It is a business (let’s not kid ourselves, because that’s what it is). To face it as such you have to be responsible, determined, executive. This is the difference between a writer and someone who writes for fun.
Creative production. In case the previous point sounded too mercantilist, this is the one that ensures that the artistic side of your personality develops and bears concrete fruit.
Let us expand on these concepts a little:
1. Becoming a writer requires constant motivation.
There are a couple of questions we need to answer to explain this, the first one being:
Why do I want to be a writer?
It is obvious that writing a novel to a standard that is acceptable for publication takes time and effort. Although it is a fun job, which unleashes our creativity and knowledge and is ultimately rewarding, you have to be sure that it will have its difficult moments.
If the answer is “money”, think again. It’s perfectly possible to make money from novels – many have done it. But it’s probably not the best motivation for writing. Results won’t be seen immediately and enthusiasm will wane as you realise that not only is there no cash coming in, but you have to invest a lot of what you have in the form of time and resources into this project.
Achieving success by your own means succeed with the product of your creativity. This is something else: Emotion is a great motivator and it is easy to get excited about a project that keeps you true to yourself, your way of doing things and your desire to express yourself.
The second question, which I suppose is asked by everyone who ever thinks of entering this world, is: Do I have what it takes to succeed as a writer?
Every aspiring novelist needs this answer. After all, if you doubt your own writing talent, how are you going to tackle a difficult chapter after the initial enthusiasm has worn off?
This is the point at which many novelists give up their dreams. But if we believe in our talent and have the confidence to keep going when the muses don’t help us and we hit a rough patch (and absolutely every writer does, even the most experienced).
2. Becoming a writer requires professionalism.
There are many people who decide to become a writer with the vision of the artist who pours his or her soul onto paper and pays no attention to the business aspects of writing. There is some truth in this, after all the writing of a novel is a creative act and that ability to leave our essence on the pages is what will make it honest and raise its literary quality. But writing fiction is a business, writers create stories to be read and between writer and reader there are all kinds of intermediaries that make up the publishing industry: agents, editors, publishers, publicists, distributors, bookshops, etc.
To be successful in the literary fiction market you have to be part of this industry, and while creating a product that readers want to read depends on your artistic side, making it known in the publishing world is directly related to your professional performance.
The management of our time also leads us to be professionals. Make sure to have quality time, getting the most out of your writing sessions. Applying writing techniques, overcoming blocks, applying yourself to working out the details will inadvertently get you closer to the finish line in less time and enjoy the journey. You have to write intelligently.
3. Becoming a writer requires creativity.
The good news is that we all have some creativity and, taking this as a basis, that creativity can be developed, expanded, strengthened with different exercises, generating a constant flow of ideas to which professionalism will have to give shape, without motivation waning throughout the process.
Learning to make full use of your creativity is vital if you want to become a successful novel writer. Your creativity will not only enable you to write much better, it will help you to enjoy the writing process. Inspiration, our writing muse, comes from creativity, from that right hemisphere of our brain where imagination and emotions reside. But it is not possible to sit and wait for our muse to arrive, it has to be awakened, it has to be called upon.
Picasso said “I don’t believe in the muses, but just in case they come down, I prefer them to find me working”, that’s why there are a number of creativity exercises that can be useful at different times.
Now stop for a moment and take the time to absorb all the advice in this article. I know you are anxious to get going on this new adventure of becoming a writer, but what you need to understand is that writing a novel is a long-distance race, not a sprint.
Taking the time to prepare before you set off can save you a lot of time afterwards.