How to Unlock Your Writing Genius

Doors are hard to unlock unless you have the right key.

This is the front door to my office.
(Man, it needs some painting).
I need to use the right key to unlock this door;
not any key will do.

The same is true of your writing genius. Dreaming about being a writer never got anyone anywhere - just ask my brother who has been dreaming about becoming a writer for more years than I can remember. He has great ideas too. Ideas that would sell. But what does he do?

Dream. 

Dreaming is good if you take the time to do something about it. 

Make the time.

"Time waits for no man", the old saying goes, and it doesn't wait for women either. If you want to unlock your writing genius, if you want to learn how to become a writer, even the best writer you can be, then you must make the time. When I first thought about writing as a career I didn't have a lot of money to spend on classes. I couldn't afford to go back to school.

What did I do?

I checked out books at the library. I wrote. I attended a writer's

group.

These are some of my books, and some of the books of other writers I have published
through Idea Creations Press.
None of them would have happened
had I not stayed on the wobbly bike.

Learning how to become a writer is a little like dusting off your bike, getting on the seat, and taking yourself for a ride. You might have peddled a few times before, but not lately, and as your bike wobbles, as you try to gain your balance, you realize you've still got it. You can still ride.

My personal belief? We can all write, but not all of us apply ourselves. The juice is in us, but we don't apply what's already there. 

Write more than you watch television or play games on your phone or...

Writing not only takes time it takes a lot of focused time. You've more than likely heard of morning pages, or writing a page a day - or about 500 words, but what of writing 500 words a day on a particular project? Rather than writing 500 random words that come to you, and then wondering what else you can possibly share later, you're just so exhausted getting it all out, why not use those creative juices right off the bat?

Say you're interested in writing a book about your childhood. Start your day by remembering an event that happened to you. You don't need to start at the beginning, just start with one remembrance. The next day, follow it up with another remembrance, and so on. Once you get enough written, you can then consider how you'd like to organize your book.

My first book was a mixture of true experience
and fiction as Samantha deals with her
parents' divorce.

What if you're interested in writing a novel? One of my favorite techniques is finding a picture, either from a magazine, a painting, or a book that reflects my vision. I look at that thing and start to write whatever comes to me. Will it be the beginning? Probably not. But it will be something. And the next day I can look at it again and see what else comes to mind. I may find my beginning on day three or day ten, but if I use my creative juices the day will come and I will know when my book has begun. And who knows? Those other things I have written may just be chapter three or ten!

Throw negative critiques out. 

Story bashing never helps. "Story helps" do. You will know right away what type you're receiving as you're learning how to become a writer by how you feel. Defensive? Bash. Time for a crying jag? Bash. "I really like this part right here." Help. "That's exactly how I felt as a kid." Help. "What were you trying to say here? I really want to get it." Help.

Negative critiques of your writing, especially in the beginning may create within you a desire to STOP. You will hear them, and when you do, let them go. Pick up your pen. Go to your computer and write. 

I usually write on my computer unless I'm away from home. 

But stay focused. Don't rant. Keep going.

Share your work.

Yep. I know, after hearing that you'll receive negative critiques as you learn how to become a writer, you may not want to share your work with anyone. Do. And continue to share even after the negative critiques, especially when you receive the negative critiques. As a writer, I am still learning, and I have been a published book writer since 2002! I was learning before that as well because I started as a newspaper reporter. 

My first draft on a paper for college
received a C-.
My final, an A as I remember.

I am still learning, and expect to be learning until my dying day. I still share my work. Not everyone likes it. And that's okay. I keep writing, and so should you!

Transition from Part-Time Hobby in Writing to Full-Time Career

A writer friend of mine asked me to write a blog post on how to transition his writing from a part-time hobby to a full-time career, and he got me thinking.

How did I do it exactly? And how might my writing journey differ from his?

I went back over some of my previous posts, and found this little trinket:
http://idea-creations.blogspot.com/2013/12/what-do-you-hope-for.html



The post describes my journey from magazine and newspaper writing, to college, to published books; even to starting my own publishing company.

Perhaps it's time for me to fill in the gaps.

When I began writing, it was on a smaller scale, and I was earning a part-time paycheck within various retail establishments. During this time I was also writing for the The Salt Lake Tribune, as a stringer and going to school. Later, I took on an online copy writing job. In-between writing what I wanted to write, I wrote what others wanted me to write, and I think that's important.

Yes, I was finally able to quit my part-time job in sales, and the risk was there, (I was not yet making what I made working even part-time) but I knew it was time to focus on what I loved. AND, and this is an important and, I was not supporting my family; thus the part-time work.

For my friend, he has a different scenario in front of him. He has a wife and child and a mortgage payment. It wouldn't be wise to quit and just jump into a full-time writing career, as I'm sure he knows. But with that said, I still think my path may be of use to him.

1. I worked the writing in slowly. I started working for newspapers, including the college newspaper. Previous to working in the newspaper field, I practiced my craft until I got good enough to publish in a newspaper. Dare I say it? It took me eight years.

Though I started my blog much later, (after I'd published a couple of books) starting a blog early on would be a good transition into journalism. It's always a good idea to learn non-fiction writing because you will need it later when you are marketing your books. :)

Not everyone feels that they can write non-fiction, but I believe they are doing themselves a great disservice if they choose not to learn it. In non-fiction writing, especially in journalism, a writer learns to take himself or herself out of the picture and report the facts at hand. He/she learns how to cut and use only the most necessary words for an article. He/she learns about interviewing others, about meeting deadlines, about clarity in the article and even, accuracy. All of these things have helped me as I've then published my books.

2. As the writer grows in experience, a sloughing off of other jobs naturally results. I remember the day I gave up my online copy writing job because it wasn't meeting my writing needs. What was I writing? Technical stuff about televisions, cameras and such. I didn't love this work, but I liked it enough to do it for a couple of years, until something better came along. Even today, as I look for freelance writing work, I am very careful about what I take on. But I couldn't be this particular in the beginning when I was learning the craft. Some jobs I took on didn't even pay me; some jobs I take on today still don't, but they fit in with my writing needs.

3. Dear friend, there may come a day when you can totally and completely give up your full-time job for a full-time writing career, but it may take some time. To be honest, I don't have one writing friend who works full-time in writing, who has been able to totally drop the full-time job away from it (a part-time job, maybe, but not a full-time job). And maybe that's because I'm not yet friends with Mary Higgins Clark or Richard Paul Evans :)

Having said that, however, I don't want you to give up on your dream. Right now I am making a part-time wage on a full-time writing career, but I don't expect it to last forever. I am continually publishing books, my writing business is growing each year, and I find that the more I focus on what I love and DO IT, the more that God provides for me.

I know He will do the same for you.

Kathryn

Marketing on the Sly

I have been thinking this morning about all of the times I market without really planning for it and I guess you could say that because I'm open to sharing my work wherever I am, the subject of writing often comes up wherever I am.

Marketing can be daunting, and I'll be the first one to tell you that I often burn myself out before I've even gotten started. By marketing on the sly helps. It's a little like carrying pictures of your children to share with the friend you haven't seen in years. You have the pictures to show your friend, not because you planned it out, but because you always carry their pictures with you.

Marketing on the sly takes guts. It's not enough that you are ready to share your work, you must be eager to share your work.

No excuses.

That means if you're in line at the bank and get into a discussion with someone else in line; perhaps they ask what you do for a living because you've asked them, you pull out a postcard with all of the information they need to find out more about your book.

It also means that if you're at a conference and the person next to you appears excited about your new book, that you eagerly pull it from your purse and show it to them.

When you're at dinner (or any other place for that matter) and the subject of your writing career takes center stage, that you smile and share a little bit about your work. Do you consider your writing a career or merely a hobby? If your writing is your career, treat it as such when you speak to others.

Be open to ideas and opportunities that come your way. If you are talking to a fellow writer and they suggest you be a part of their writing conference (and you've never spoken at a writing conference before) say yes anyway. (You can figure out how to do the speaking part later).

Marketing on the sly is a bit like carrying those pictures of your children. You never know when the opportunity will come up to share your work with others, but you are always happy and ready to do so. 

Get Tough With Your Writing

I don't know what it is about us writers, but it's almost as if we think writing is something we do when we have the time, when the muse strikes, when we have a deadline that has to be met.

We may not even think of writing as "career" but rather as "hobby."

Now, while I'm the first to admit that some writers consider their own writing a hobby, they are usually the ones that will think of their writing only for themselves. They may share it with family, but not much beyond that.

Still, there are writers who say they want to be published and yet they place their writing at the bottom of their list "after everything else is done."

Take it from me, a writer will never make their writing more than merely a hobby unless they do something about it.

And the doing takes work.

In a nutshell, the writer who takes their writing serious will write every day even when they don't feel like it.

Brush up on their writing through writing classes and books even after they've been published.

Help other writers through mentoring as occasion arises.

Treat their writing like a career even before they've been published.

Call themselves a writer even before they are published.

Will allow others to read, critique and edit their work knowing that any fine advice can be used to better their work.

Will not take it personally when someone doesn't like their work even after it's been edited numerous times and published. They know that just like individuals who pick and choose their friends and often wish they could pick and choose their family, book readers will not like everything they pick up and read.

Getting tough with your writing means speaking up when someone asks you what you do for a living, and deciding to share your writing because it is a 'real' job or a 'real' career.



It it stopping to take a look at where you stand today and where you want to be standing tomorrow, and following through until the end.

It is never giving up; it is never stopping in the middle of the road where there are stones. It is having the courage to move the stones out of the way and continuing on.