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you need the Associated Press (AP) stylebook. You need to know how to write the way journalists write.

You need a notebook with you at all times, whether it is electronic or paper and pen, because ideas strike in the coffee aisle of the supermarket or while you are waiting in line at the drugstore. Ideas strike when you are driving, while you are in the shower, while you are watching the kids at their school sports day - Mom? She's the one scribbling in her notebook.

Sometimes there is nothing nicer than to take your notebook to the nearest Starbucks or food court and record what you see and hear as life goes on all around you. Other times you need solitude - go away! I'm writing! To be a writer is to crave experience, but also to need quiet time to sit down, digest it, and write about it.
To be a writer is often to be labelled `weird', or just plain nuts. Now and then, people get wild eyed around you - "Are you going to put me in a story? Will I get paid?" to which the only honest answer is, "No, you're too boring."

To be a writer is to have weird experiences though - stories that come true, stories that seem to drop on your out of nowhere (as Harry Potter dropped into JK Rowling's head while she was travelling on a train), and stories that defy everything you ever thought you believed. Cynics write incredibly heart warming sentimental pieces, to their own amazement - practical souls suddenly find themselves weaving complex imaginary worlds. Writing gets more out of you than you ever knew you had.

Yes, to be a writer is to go on an amazing journey, it is an incredible adventure. And if it isn't, then maybe you should try something else.

Learn more about this author, Gail Kavanagh.
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