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How To Become A Writer
How does a person become a writer? It’s an interesting question, but also one that has a variety of answers, and all of those answers really depend on what your definition of a writer is.
In its purest form, the answer is - you simply have to write. It’s only when the question is targeted that the answer becomes more specific. For example, questions like: What does it take to be a freelance writer? How do I write a novel? How do I go about creating a saleable script? all require in depth answers, yet the major step to achieving all of these goals is the same. Unless you write, you can not become a writer.
There can be the tendency when starting out in the field of writing to spend all your time learning the craft through attending workshops, reading books, and absorbing from others. All of these aspects are vital, but in moderation.
Learning from authors, coaches and educators is only worthwhile if you're also sitting down and putting your own words on the page. If you’re learning, but not writing, all this research can easily become a distraction.
Therefore, the answer to this question is to make sure, above all else, that you are putting your own words on the page. When you start out it doesn’t matter if you are using the wrong words, writing incomplete sentences, and telling rather than showing. That you can fix with time, practice and knowledge.
So start a journal today, begin work on that novel that’s burning a hole in your head, start noting down the short stories your children love you to tell, and take the time out to begin the record the important events in your life. What you write at this point isn’t important, the mere fact that you do is all that counts.
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