My cousin convinced me to pursue my passion (writing), but where to start?

[Naive]

My cousin keeps telling me that maybe I should think about writing as something more than a hobby. I have a vivid imagination and since I was small I read a lot and wrote even more. She thinks that I should really consider it as a career. At first it seemed silly but the more I think about it the more I consider the idea. The problem is that I do not know how to go about this! Any ideas or input?

[RecordProducer]

You need contacts with the people from the publishing field. As many as you can get. Apply for various competitions in writing. Send some articles or stories to the local magazines (but do it in person preferably). Try to connect with some famous local writers, they might advise you precisely what to do and how marketable you are. They publish books and stories in order to make money, ya know... I guess bringing your material to publishers would be a waste of time. They would probably not read it, most likely not even accept it. But if they're very small, they might accept unsolicited material.

Why not start by posting some of your work on LS?

[suegail]

Try joining an online writer's workshop. There are many of them. You will meet writers more than willing to offer feedback. There are all kinds of sections, poetry, essay, short story, novella.

 

The mystery genre is a wonderful place to start, I think. Working on mystery fiction teaches you best how to plot, how to create suspense.

 

Spend as much time writing as you can. Work on stories, yes, but also keep a journal. Open an online journal or a blog. Many writers are 'blogging.'

 

Study the writing of others, others who've done well, of course, look at their style and clarity. How do they make the story work? From what perspective are they writing the story?

 

Get some valuable writing tools: some books. One I would suggest, Strunk and White "The Elements of Style" There are so many others; I won't bore you with the list, but I would suggest a trip to the bookstore to look them over. If you seriously want to write it's well worth the investment to have the reference books on hand.

 

Let us know how you're doing and let us see some of your work sometime. Best of luck to you....

[Naive]

Thanks so much for the ideas. I am really considering it. Of course I will not leave my job or school for it but the idea is there.

 

Anyone else have any ideas?