So, You Want To Be A Writer...

You decided it was time. But, you are not sure where to start or how to get started. Don't worry, you are not alone. Many first time authors feel like this. It can be overwhelming to say the least. But, it is not that bad. ~ First, think about what you want to do. A novel? A novelette? A Novella? Short Story? I know, you are already in panic mode reading that. You are asking yourself why... Lets take a look at these choices first.

• Short Story: As the title indicates, this is a writing that can be read in a single setting. Average of 1,000-7,500 words.

• Novelette: Is longer than a short story and shorter than a novella. Usually in a range of 7,500-20,000 words. This starts you a path to truly writing a book.

• Novella: The next step in authorship goals, ranges from 20,000-40,000 words. Now, you are looking at a short novel range of writing.

• Novel: Now you are getting somewhere! An average of 40,000+ words puts you in the official range of being a novelist. Now, it can get tricky here, because it now gets broken into genres. We will look at that at another time, when we can cover it in more detail.
  

So, where do you begin? The answer is--a thought. It is really that simple. You have a thought for a story, maybe not long to start with, and that is okay. My son started with a short story, that led to more short stories in a series, that is now being edited into a Novella.

Get a journal and write those thoughts down. That is your first step to becoming a writer. Don't worry about perfection. Don't worry about how many words, or how to format a book. All of that comes later. Just WRITE. You will be amazed at how those words will start flowing. Whether you are using pen and paper, iPad, phone with a note-pad app, or your computer. Just WRITE.

Don't worry about the editing, spelling, any of that. Just focus on writing your thoughts. You deal with editing later. In fact, I will cover some ways in another BLOG later on ways to edit, some that cost and some that may be controversial... Bottom line here is this. Don't wait. There are words in you, there is a novel in you. Let it out, set it free! Start writing and you will see!

Until next time ~ Happy Writing My Friends!!

~Author DL Bates Jr.