This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
1. Get comfortable. Seriously. Long hours at a desk will kill you. I use a laptop, and write in a recliner with my feet up. No, it’s not classy. I don’t care.
2. Enjoy the process more than the product. Invest your time in learning your craft. Focus on producing quality work and don’t worry about getting published. It can take years for that to happen. In the meantime, you have to be committed to your work and believe in your talent.
3. Get help. You need a group of trusted readers who can help you hone your prose and develop your skills as a story-teller. Find a writing group, or enlist friends you think are capable of offering objective criticism. The tough part is figuring out when you should listen to them and when you should tell them to go away and leave you alone.
4. Develop a thick skin. You’ll need it. Your friends will critique your work. So will your agent. And your editor. And then come the reviews. You will be adored. You will be reviled. Don’t believe all the good press. Ignore the bad.
5. Understand that publication is not the end of the process. It’s a nice moment, but it’s only a moment. Now you have to market your book, worry about sales and, most importantly, write another book. Publication is just a station you pass through on your journey. What’s the destination? Only you know.
India Black and the Shadows of Anarchy by Carol K. Carr is out now.