by David Aaron White

Created on: August 24, 2009

I'm sixteen years old. I've taken English classes all my life, attended a young writers' workshop in Iowa, read what must be at least a thousand novels, and written for Helium for a little more than two years. I don't have a college degree, or a high school diploma for that matter; yet I still write every single day, and my articles haven't been doing that poorly since I started writing more last February. I would call myself a writer; not a professional, per se, but I still write a lot and would like to pursue it into adulthood.

As you can see, I'm hardly "qualified" to be a writer, save for what I've done. There are no concrete requirements that make or break someone's career as a writer; it's a matter of what the writer actually does. You don't need a fancy diploma or professional critic to tell you that you're a good writer. To be a writer, you need to write something; you can't call yourself a writer unless you actually work at it. I would call myself a writer because that's what I do, and if you write regularly, say, weekly or daily, then you deserve to call yourself a writer.

A writer needs to have some knowledge behind his or her words. For example, I like to write about exercise. I know a thing or two about exercise because I spent the winter of my freshman and sophomore years in the weight room and learned about health and fitness from the physical trainer there. You need to know what you're writing about before you actually write; this will save people from calling you a "hypocrite" or an "idiot." To be a writer, you need to know what you're talking about so that other people recognize your authority.

Experiences are a must for writers. As aforementioned, you can't write unless you have something to write about, which happens when you know something to write about. Many writers, including myself, find that they write from personal experience best. Old stories about parents, grandparents, friends, or other memorable times of your life should generate some thoughts that you can turn into stories. You shouldn't sit down to write unless you've experienced life in a way that didn't involve you sitting down to write something.

A good writer needs proper motivation in order to function at his or her highest level. Ask yourself: why am I writing? I know that I write because I want money; I want money because I'd like to have something in my pocket when I go to the movies with my friends. Earlier in the year, I

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