5 Writing Lessons from Danielle Steel

When you hear that all the books written by a particular author have been bestsellers, you can’t help but sit up to notice. Here’s presenting Danielle Steel, the writer who ranks as the top bestselling author among those alive and fourth in the all time list.

Steel started writing as a child and today she has more than 800 million copies of her work sold. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and 22 of her books have been adapted for TV series. Two of these 22 have also received Golden Globe nominations.

One can go on and on about this author who made her mark as a romance novelist and continues to pen great books. But what can we learn from her work?

1. Passion

Writing is a passion and this is true for all the bestselling authors over time. Danielle Steel started writing as a child and she was penning poems by the time she was in her late teens. Although she wanted to be the new “Chanel”, she always knew that writing was her destiny. This is why she never left writing, even when she was working through the night to complete her regular assignments. At 25, her first novel, Going Home, was published and there was no looking back for her.

What you can learn from Steel is that you need to believe in yourself as an author and be at it no matter what. There would be stones on the way, but you can brush them off if you are passionate about writing.

2. A don’t care attitude

Steel never thought what others would say about her writing. Even as a child, she would spend hours in her bedroom, writing on and on while her parents wanted her to go out and play. Even today, she doesn’t care if others think that she should retire now. At 67 years of age, she is as strong a writer as ever.

As a writer, you will find people laughing at you and making fun of you, but if you can feel that fire in your belly, just go on. Don’t bother about others.

3. Commitment

Once she got into fulltime writing, Steel used to write 10 hours a day for five years straight. Now this requires commitment, something she never lacked. Her food was sent to her bedroom and she would sometimes eat it after five hours.

Remember that you need to be committed to your writing. It cannot be the other activity that you get into once every other activity for the day has been completed.

4. Consistent formula

This is the trademark of all successful authors and Danielle Steel is no exception. She is a romance novel author and her work involves rich families, blackmail and suicide and the other dark elements. She found that this is the formula she is comfortable penning and continued with it. Success? We know she has had oodles.

Be consistent about your writing style. Learn from other writing styles, but make sure you stick to the formula you are strongest at.

5. Write for the masses

As a writer, Steel has experienced enough criticisms from critics. But what she has achieved is love from her readers. And this has allowed her to make money from writing, lots of it.

You need to decide who you want to please, your critics or your readers. If you want commercial success, it is the latter that you should write for. Let the critics say what they want to say.

Can you become the new Danielle Steel if you follow her formula? Cannot be said, but there is a possibility. However, you have to have that great writing skill above anything else. Steel has not achieved her fame by writing trash. She may have written all those mushy-mushy romance novels, but she has written them well. This is why she is where she is. Even if you cannot become the new Danielle Steel, aim to achieve part of what she has achieved and you should be proud of your work.

Image credit: By Danielle Steel (Autograph) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Profile_Pic_Moumita.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Moumita Goswami is a full-time homemaker and a passionate writer. She stays in Pune with her husband and daughter. After giving up working, she started writing about five years ago and can now be seen using her computer keyboard almost all the time. An MA in Psychology from Calcutta University, Moumita has spent time in Kolkata, Delhi and now Pune. For Moumita, writing started as a sudden chance but she soon discovered her likeness for it. And now she has developed a passion for writing and hardly any day passes without her scribbling a few lines. She dreams of publishing her own book one day and is working towards it.
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