13 Steps towards Becoming an Author

At the beginning of this year, I wrote down an action list for becoming an author. It's great advice really. Not that I've followed it. I put it away and forgot about it until today. But now I'm going to start following my own advice. I'm going to try it for a week (starting September 9) and will post my thoughts when I'm done. Why don't you try it out too, and comment below with your thoughts? What works for you?

Enough chat. Here are my 13 steps to becoming an author.

1. Make a schedule for writing and stick to it.

2. Pray every time you sit down to write.

3. When writing, turn off everything that could distract you, from music to your own inward criticism. Keep only your creativity and willingness to explore possibilities.

4. Accept this: you will write crap. Learn from it. You will also write well. Learn from that. What produces positive feedback? What produces negative feedback?

5. Persevere through revisions. Make a goal of a certain amount of pages or chapters per week and stick to it. 

6. Find someone willing to critique your work (a writing mentor for example). Make sure they'll give you good criticism (telling you what needs to be improved as well as what they like). 

7. Accept advice from anyone. It doesn't hurt to listen and you might just learn something.

8. Actively learn to accept criticism. Don't let yourself get offended. You can learn from feedback no matter how it's given.

9. Actively learn to brush off discouraging/tearing down talk, whether it's from someone else or you.

10. Read writing help books. Try different techniques and take note of ones that work for you.

11. Read biographies, both of authors and of people you admire. How did they reach their goals?

12. Keep a notepad with you when you go out so you can write down things that inspire you - people, scenery, music, settings ... anything.

13. Listen, observe, and question. Listen to dialogue and the sounds of nature. Observe things you normally don't, how people interact and how they act when they're alone. Question how things work, why people act that way, what's behind it.