Writers that want to become successful i.e. get published, create a following of fans and sell enough books to live on the royalties, need more than just writing skills, an eloquent style and storytelling abilities. Writers need other skills; skills that have been perfected by other professionals. Some, if not all, of the skills we’ve presented below might come naturally to you. On the other hand, if you have trouble mastering the skills mentioned below, there are successful professionals in fields other than writing you should observe. They have mastered these skills, and there is a lot writers can learn from them.

1. Calculate risks – businessmen

Successful businessmen and entrepreneurs appear to be taking great risks – however, they do so with great caution and calculation. Of course, risk calculation isn’t the only important skill of successful businessmen, but it is a skill writers need to learn. With every book or short story you write, you’re undertaking a risk that said book or short story will not be published, or if it is published, that it wouldn’t be received well by critics, reviewers and readers. In order to avoid this, and to bring the risk to an acceptable level, you should take a look at how businessmen plan their future endeavors and the way they’re researching the market for their products or services (which, in your case is novels, and short stories), in order to ensure they present their customers exactly with the type of product they need.

2. Innovative skills – engineers

Engineers are constantly on the lookout to create products that will improve our daily life. This kind of innovation is practiced everyday, and not only do they think of a new product, they also find a way to actually make it. Learn from them and become an engineer for imaginary products – especially if you’re writing a science fiction story set into the far future. Even if you’re not writing a science fiction story, there is still plenty to gain from being innovative and looking towards the future. Perhaps, the publishing industry will take a new turn beyond electronic books, and learning from the engineers about what they might create next for writers is always a good idea. It will ensure that you’re on top of technology achievements, and you never know how useful they might be to you as a writer.

3. Deep research – scientists

Scientists and academics need to do deep research and discover every detail before they can present a thesis, a theory or a dissertation. A writer can gain so much from acquiring the skill of deep research, along with the skill of clever selection of the gathered information. Namely, when you do deep research, not every detail is important – but you will not know that until you’ve discovered the detail and then be able to discard it. Careful, deep research will help you build a more realistic world in your story, as well as improve upon your characterization with researches in psychology.

4. Communication – PR and marketing specialists

It does not do to only write the book and then hope the readers will discover it. A good PR and marketing specialist knows not only what to present to the public, but has also built a network of contacts who will be the perfect recipients of the information the PR specialist is providing. A good network cannot be built if you’re an isolated island in the publishing world. This means that you need to be open to communication with other writers, editors, and publishing specialists, and to create an image of a sophisticated writer. In a way, become your own PR person, and watch how your network or contacts will grow and when you have important information about your new book, will be there to receive it.

5. Determination – musicians, painters, and athletes

Have you ever sat in the audience of a piano player, a violinist or a cellist, amazed at their skill with their fingers and the music they play? When you sit down to write, remember that feeling of awe and aspire to inspire it in your readers. Piano players and painters work for hours, honing their craft every day, determined to become better at their craft than the previous day. Athletes do the same thing – otherwise they will fall behind and never make it into a competition. Remember, every book you publish will compete with millions of other books for attention. Every day is the Olympics for writers, and as time passes, and more books are published, your book will need to be your record, your score, and the best thing you’ve managed to write.

Image credit: Pixabay

Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.