This is very important! Carry a notebook and pen or pencil with you at all times. Even if you prefer to do your writing on a typewriter, or computer, you never know when an idea might come to you, so be prepared.

Keep a notebook, pen, or pencil in every area of your home, including the basement, bathroom, laundry room, attic, garage, deck, and in your glove compartment. Like I said, you never know when an idea will pop up.

Buy a bunch of inexpensive book-lights and keep one with each of your notebooks for those nasty little ideas that insist on popping into your head in the middle of the night.

Write down every idea as soon as it comes to you. Never depend on your memory. The idea might seem burned into your brain in the middle of the night, but it will disappear like a puff of smoke in the bright light of morning.

WRITE! Don’t just talk about it! DO IT!

Learn HOW to write. Yes, anyone can write, but if you want to be published, you have to take the time to learn to do it right.

Write what you know! That’s the advice that’s given to all new writers, but it doesn’t really apply nowadays. Between libraries and the Internet, you can learn what you don’t know.

Write what you like to read. It’s easier to write the type of things you like than it is to learn something completely new, so if you enjoy reading mysteries, you probably shouldn’t try writing sci-fi, at least not until you’ve learned how to write a good mystery. Once you’re good at writing in your own genre, then you can consider trying something different.

Decisions Decisions

Decide who your target audience will be: men, women, children, teens, etc.

Decide WHAT you want to write: poetry, short stories, novels, etc.

Decide whether you are going to write fiction or nonfiction.

Decide whether your story will be literary, mainstream, technical, educational.

Decide what genre your story will be: mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.

Decide whether this story will be a standalone, part of a trilogy, or part of a continuing series?

Before You Start

Research publishers to find out if there is a market for what you want to write.

Obtain guidelines from each publisher you plan to submit to!