by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: May 12, 2009

There is little doubt that the thought of attempting to become a successful writer can be extremely intimidating. This is particularly true where any aspiring writer is aware of the statistics regarding the percentage of writers who try to make that successful breakthrough but fail entirely to do so, frequently after having invested a great deal of time and effort in the process.

There is unfortunately no getting away from the fact, however, that any aspiring writer has to overcome this intimidation factor as the first hurdle in attempting to become a successful writer. They have to discipline themselves mentally and know that if they are to achieve their ambition, step one is to get writing they way they believe they can and have some material which they can attempt to have published.

There will be times, even when the writer has acquired that initial motivation necessary to get themselves started, where they have periods of self-doubt and question their own ability to make a success of their writing. What the writer has to realise at times such as these is that they are not alone in experiencing these feelings. Almost every writer - even established ones - goes through periods of finding it difficult to produce writing of quality. This is commonly referred to as writers' block and generally has another, underlying reason for it occurring. The good news is that it is unlikely to be a permanent fixture and with determination and patience, the writer can work their way through it.

When the writer gets to the stage of having produced writing which they believe to be of a publishable standard, the dizzying array of potential markets for same is the next factor which can prove extremely intimidating. The best thing for the writer to do here is purchase such as a copy of the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, or perform some Google searches for markets quite specific to the material which they have produced. They then have to make the effort to send a respectful letter of initial enquiry to potential publishers or even literary agents, requesting that their work may be submitted.

If the writer instead chooses to go down the online road towards publication, they will unquestionably find it easier to see their work "in print" as such but still encounter a great many barriers to ultimate success. What the writer has to do here is focus upon improving their online profile through every tool available to them. This will include Blogs, social networking sites and even creating a personal website.

Becoming a writer can be a long, slow and at times painful process. There is no easy way to achieve the desired result and disappointment is going to occur regularly along the way. If the writer knows that being a successful writer is above all what they desire, however, determination, perseverance and sheer hard work will allow them to overcome the intimidation factor and more which stands in their way and have their very best shot at achieving their goal.

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