My 2 cents
- Some people say write what you know, but I say write what you love. You can always learn what you don’t know.
- Write every day, even when you don’t feel like it.
- Keep a journal.
- Start an idea file.
- Find some traveling buddies for this writing journey and share the ride (get in a critique group, take writing courses, attend workshops).
- Read great writing.
- If you are writing to get published then submit your stuff… often.
- Persevere. Everyone is a writer. Successful writers are the ones that didn’t quit.
Here are some of my favourite resources that have been wonderful guides along my writing adventure:
Books
Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market Guide , Writer’s Digest Books
Christian Writer’s Market Guide, Sally Stuart
The Discovery of Poetry, Frances Mayes
A Passion for Narrative, Jack Hodgins
Wild Mind, Natalie Goldberg
Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
Forest for the Trees, Betsy Learner
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
1001 Ways to Market Your Books, John Kremer
The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
The Right to Write, Julia Cameron
Plot and Structure, James Scott Bell
Spiritual Writing, Deborah Levine Herman
The Elements of Fiction Series
Plot, Ansen Dibell
Beginnings, Middles & Ends, Nancy Kress
Websites
http://www.thewordguild.com/writecanada/