Five Things You Should Know
1. Write what you
love! This is the first advice I give all new writers. Don’t write something
you think other people want to read, write what YOU want to read! As long as
you have a passion for something, you will be driven to write it. I never
finished a novel until I started writing historical fiction, thus finding what
I really loved.
2. Get good
friends or find a writer’s group with people you can trust to give you an
honest opinion. I could never have written so much or gotten where I am today without
my fellow writers helping me with their continued support. They’ll find
problems in your stories you may never have noticed and friends are not going
to just say “your story stinks, you should throw it away.” They’ll tell you,
“you’re story stinks, but here’s how we can fix it!”
3. Always do your
research. It doesn’t matter what genre you write, some amount of research is
always needed in order to write a realistic story. It is always easier to write
something you know about. If you are a great horseback rider, you will find
that very easy to write about, but if you’re trying to write about something
you don’t know a lot about like how to make blown glass, then you’re going to
need to do your research to make it seem authentic in your writing. My best
advice: read the Dummies books!
4. Get a good word
processor, especially if you’re planning on publishing or sending your story to
an agent/publisher. Trust me on this one. Word is probably the best thing you
can do. I hate Word with a passion, but it’s the only thing that really works
well so do yourself a favor and get Word if at all possible. It will make
formatting a whole lot easier!
5. And lastly, don’t ever stop. No matter what! If you get discouraged, just put your story aside for a while, take a break, maybe start something else, but never stop writing all together. The best medicine for problematic writing is just to keep going. Practice will only make your work better, and by your third story, you’ll be a perfectly amazing writer as long as you were willing to listen to constructive critiques and advice from other writers and you did your research. If you did all that then there is nothing to stop you from being a best-selling author someday!
More about Hazel West
Hazel spent a good bit of her time writing
historical fiction about brave men and women who have graced the pages of
history, trying to bring more light to their legacies so readers of all ages
will enjoy them. Her favorite things to do are writing, obviously, listening to
and playing Irish and Scottish folk music, practicing with all eras and types
of historical weaponry, drinking GOOD COFFEE, and reading good books. Hazel currently
lives in Florida.
Author Email: sirwilliamssquire@gmail.com
Author Link: Character Purgatory - http://hazelwest.blogspot.com/
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/On-Foreign-Field-Hazel-West/dp/1477493441
Link to Tour on Main Site: http://www.virtualbooktourcafe.com/3/post/2012/07/on-a-foreign-fielda-story-of-loyalty-and-brotherhood-by-hazel-west.html
.jpg)
