by Joyce Good Henderson

Created on: April 11, 2010

I hear it all the time, “I wish I could write.”  What the person is actually saying is, “I write all the time, but I haven’t a clue about what it takes to be a writer.”  What are the requirements of being a writer?  A writer is someone who has a compulsion, a compelling and driving need to put words on paper, or a computer screen.  A writer doesn’t ask why he/she writes; a writer writes.

The second great secret of writers is: it doesn’t matter whether you write fiction, non-fiction, juvenile or children’s books, magazine articles, poetry, op-eds, plays, ads, sports, greeting cards, catalogue prose or even obits.  Writing is writing.

Who you write for matters the most.  First, you must write for yourself.  You must have the same affection for your writing as for your baby, with enough business sense that you can wean the manuscript and send it into the publishing world.  You must also understand that you are writing primarily for editors, although they are not the purchasers of the works.  Editors work for publishers who supply the funds to publish your work. 

Both editors and publishers are looking for books they think will sell enough to make them money.  They are also looking for a writer who can deliver a solid product on a deadline, over and over again.  They are much more likely to hire someone with a track record of finishing a project and selling it.

You can stack the odds in your favor by establishing a professional attitude that says writing is your job.  Perhaps not your day job, primary job or even a money-making job, but a job with regular hours, a commitment to excellence and an acknowledgment that you are in it for the long haul.  Introduce yourself to others as a writer.  Make business cards and a professional, business-like heading on your letters.  Call yourself an author, or writer, and avoid cutesy titles “wordsmith.”

Be a stickler for grammar, presentation, and spelling.  You only have one opportunity to make a first impression so be sure everything you submit is your best, well-polished, professional work.  Partner with another writer to critique and edit each other’s work. Study the market; know both the publishers and the readers.  Develop a business plan for each project and a proposal for each submission.

Along the road to becoming a published writer, don’t lose sight of your customers, readers.  When you have studied the market, know what publishers are buying and readers are reading, deliver on the promise you have made to them.  There is nothing more frustrating than buying a book from your favorite author only to find it is a rehash of a previous novel, poorly written, not up to the standards of his or her other works.  Don’t slack off once you have made a name for yourself.  You have an unwritten contract with your readers to deliver each book as a fresh, new adventure in reading.

When you have mastered these lessons, you meet the requirements of being a writer.  You will look in the mirror one day and recognize that you have what it takes and you are indeed a writer.

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