Have you ever wanted to become a writer? Don’t know where to start? Well, neither do I. The goal of this series of blog posts is to chronicle my attempts to become a published author so that maybe you can learn from my successes and mistakes.
I am 32 years old. I have 7 classes left before I complete my Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, with a minor in Creative Writing. I have been “writing” since about 21, but never really tried to publish anything seriously. I submitted one story back in 2006, which was summarily rejected, and I would have to agree with that assessment after re-reading the piece again.
I have decided that I want to pursue the goal of becoming a published author. I have no delusions of grandeur. I know I will never become the next famous author, so I’ve set the bar quite a bit lower. I want to have a short story published. This is a reasonable and achievable goal. But, I want it to be with at least some type of reputable publisher so this would exclude attempting to self-publish using the now popular e-Book route.
Let me give you some background about where I am with my writing first.
To date, I have only completed about 10 stories. I am not prolific. My creativity is more of a slow-burn. But, I want to ramp that up as well. I tend to write pieces that could be labeled as dark fiction or fantastical fiction. I would like my writing to be similar in style to Neil Gaiman.
I have posted the first completed story, Sentinel, on this blog. This was written when I was 21. I feel I have improved greatly since then. I will post some of the other stories as well to give readers an idea of the progression of my work. This way, you will be able to gauge your own progress as well.
I’ll be writing about great advice or lessons learned about the world of writing. It seems there are all kinds of blogs and articles that give advice for writers, but they seem to assume that you are already in a place that allows you to progress from an amateur to an accomplished writer. Well, this will be right from the beginning, from hobbyist writer to dedicated author. Hopefully.
So, come with me on my journey to hopefull success. I have made some steps already, and I will detail those in subsequent posts. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am, by no means, any kind of expert, but I can elaborate on anything you have a question about.
Birth of a Writer 