As an author, I have participated in quite a few events showcasing my books, (https://dianeorrauthor.com/books/) and at nearly every event someone has approached me asking how to become an author. I enjoy these conversations and love the thought of helping someone get closer to their dream of being an author!
I would like to share with you five steps to help you become an author. In subsequent posts, I will expand on these steps but these basic steps will help get you started down the path to being a published author. They are: 1) practice your craft every day; 2) become part of a community of writers and aspiring authors; 3) find and write about your passion; 4) use correct grammar and spelling; and, 5) prepare for success!
Step 1: Practice Writing
The first step is to becoming an author is practice, practice, practice. The adage “practice makes perfect” is true. Ask any athlete. Perfection might be a high and lofty goal, but you want to be as effective a writer as possible. So, write every day! You don’t need to write toward your manuscript every day…but write something. Journaling can be helpful as well.
I have an aunt who has been both a high school and college English professor. She has been such an encouragement to me in my quest to becoming an author and her advice was to write every day. I will admit there have been some tough seasons recently when the depth of the pain I was feeling made accessing that part of my very difficult. However, healing happens and I again feel the need to write.
There have been times in my life when poems and topics came to my mind at the most inopportune times: the middle of the night or being outside doing chores on our farm. However, I learned to keep a pad and paper by my bedside and I also began carrying my phone so that I could quickly dictate whatever had come into my mind so that it wouldn’t be lost. Too many times I thought I would remember and of course…didn’t!
Step 2: Become part of a writing community
Finding a writing community can provide several important things to help you along your journey to becoming an author. I joined author communities in my search for a publisher. A young man familiar with marketing told me that many times on Facebook author/writing groups discuss their publishers…those they like and those they don’t. This is actually how I found my publisher in 2019.
Writing communities also help to fine-tune your writing. You can ask questions and get answers from people who are either aspiring or published authors who have similar goals and aspirations. It is a great thing to get another perspective outside your own! Sometimes you can find people willing to read and edit drafts of your work. That can be a wonderful help!
Whether an aspiring author or an already-published author, writing communities can also help you when you become discouraged or face writer’s block. Just knowing you aren’t alone in this can be encouraging! So, find your people!
3. Write About Your Passion
Writing about something you are passionate about makes all the difference. The first books I wrote (not the first published) were about my children. I am definitely passionate about my children and the privilege of being their mom! The days when they were young and I was their #1 person will always be some of my best days!
My first published book was about Mocha, my dairy cow. I have loved cows all my life but when I met Mocha (she was just two weeks old), I just knew she would be mine! It was a dream come true to have her be here at the farm, get to love on her, enjoy her fresh milk and know I was HER person! Here is the link to my first published book, which was about her! https://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Mocha-Good-Life/dp/1950454568/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Y1DE9ZN87AF1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.o2SfT-xN1mMEqXo26MXj4w.lbl-7Kt7wrzhvD8p34Fqva56sMhfDQBcyV9bqKRQhfc&dib_tag=se&keywords=my+name+is+mocha+by+Diane+Orr&qid=1708792728&sprefix=my+name+is+mocha+by+diane+orr%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1
One of the things that prompted me to write books about my farm is that the stories happen all on their own. Those stories turn into books. See here for some of my posts: https://livingdegoodlife.com/category/farm-life/. So, what are you passionate about? What fuels your interests. What gets you up in the morning? Write about that!
4. Write Using Correct Grammar and Spelling
Nothing is more frustrating than to read an article or even a book and have to stumble over poorly written sentences, questionable punctuation, and misspellings! Typically, if I begin reading something like this, I end up putting it down, just for the frustration and lack of ease of reading it. In this day and age, there is, in my opinion, no excuse for poor spelling and bad grammar! To be a good author, you must take advantage of the tools that are available to you!
If you didn’t receive a good education where you learned these skills, or if you have become lazy in the practice of these skills, never fear! There is help! An author needs to have good grammatical and spelling skills!
Word has Spell-check and yes! It’s worth using! There is also Grammarly that will help you write good sentences as you write. I’m sure there are other tools. If you know of some, please feel to mention them in the comments! Use these tools! Your writing and your readers will thank you!
A silly example of how important word placement is to the meaning is this: Do we say “Throw the cow over the fence some hay.” or do we say “Throw the cow some hay over the fence.” You get my meaning! As silly as it is, I often use it when conducting author visit writing workshops in schools. The students always laugh!
Additionally, the English language is full of homonyms, homophones and homographs. See this list https://www.thoughtco.com/homonyms-homophones-and-homographs-a-b-1692660 and use it as a help to make sure you use the correct word in your writing. The words “accept and except” and “there, their and they’re” and some of the most misused words!
5. Prepare for Success as an Author
As in any venture, preparation is the key. Do you just want to write for your own pleasure and sanity or do you want to be a published author? If you said “YES!” to the latter, then there are preparations you can begin making now!
Start a blog and write about your passion! As my aunt once said, if you consistently write a blog, maybe someday you can put all your blog posts together and make a book! ‘Tis true! You can write a bunch of posts even before securing a web address!
If you are an aspiring author, you can begin associating with published authors. Pick their brains. They will likely LOVE to talk to you about their journey and help you along yours! Along those same lines, frequent book fairs and talk to the authors.
Additionally, begin researching web hosts and thinking about a catchy and easy-to-remember web address. Along those same lines, depending on how close you are be publishing your work, start a Facebook author page. Here is a link to mine https://www.facebook.com/dianeorrauthor/.
Summary: The First 5 Steps To Becoming an Author
Therefore, the first steps to becoming an author are: 1) practice your craft every day; 2) become part of a community of writers and aspiring authors; 3) write passionately about your passion; 4) use correct grammar and spelling; and, 5) prepare for success!
Watch for my next post designed to help you on your journey to becoming an author! I am so thankful to be on this journey and I count it a privilege to help others along the way!