For those who want to be serious about their writing in 2004, can I suggest some resolutions to make? (I'm a writer too...and an editor, so this comes from experience).
1. Read, read, read. (If you don't read, you won't write effectively)
2. Join a local or online critique group.
3. Plan to attend at least one writer's conference in 2004. My favorite is the one at Mount Hermon, California; but there are many to choose from.
4. If you're writing non-fiction, don't write the whole book; just do a proposal first. You'll save lots of time.
5. Visit bookstores often to see what's selling.
6. Every month ask your local Christian bookstore manager if you can read their copies of CBA Marketplace and Christian Retailing. You'll learn a lot from those magazines.
7. Subscribe to The Writer or Writer's Digest.
8. Join WIN (Writer's Information Network). They have a website. Visit it to subscribe.
9. Make friends with your local public librarian and ask if you can read Publisher's Weekly every week. She won't let you check it out, but you can probably read it there.
10. Expect to rewrite everything at least a half dozen times. Most successful writers take their books through at least that many drafts before they're even near publishable. (You might read Anne Lamott's chapter on this in her fine writing book, Bird by Bird).
Hope this helps. It takes more than just talent to succeed as a writer. It takes commitment and work.
1. Read, read, read. (If you don't read, you won't write effectively)
2. Join a local or online critique group.
3. Plan to attend at least one writer's conference in 2004. My favorite is the one at Mount Hermon, California; but there are many to choose from.
4. If you're writing non-fiction, don't write the whole book; just do a proposal first. You'll save lots of time.
5. Visit bookstores often to see what's selling.
6. Every month ask your local Christian bookstore manager if you can read their copies of CBA Marketplace and Christian Retailing. You'll learn a lot from those magazines.
7. Subscribe to The Writer or Writer's Digest.
8. Join WIN (Writer's Information Network). They have a website. Visit it to subscribe.
9. Make friends with your local public librarian and ask if you can read Publisher's Weekly every week. She won't let you check it out, but you can probably read it there.
10. Expect to rewrite everything at least a half dozen times. Most successful writers take their books through at least that many drafts before they're even near publishable. (You might read Anne Lamott's chapter on this in her fine writing book, Bird by Bird).
Hope this helps. It takes more than just talent to succeed as a writer. It takes commitment and work.
