Lessons for Beginners

I am a new author and have published a few short stories. Here are a few lessons I learned while starting to take up writing beyond personal enjoyment –

• Write about things that genuinely fascinate you. Yes, the consumerist aspect of writing is a reality, but that always comes second. The writers’ love and passion is always visible in our work.
• We should read works related to our interest which already exist. And then, we can choose the niche areas where we can bring in value. What is a work you want to read, but doesn’t exist?
• Spend efforts on feedback – with beta-readers, critique groups and sensitivity readers.
• Target your work towards specialized publications whose content and style match with yours, to maximize your acceptance chances.
• You must take your own work seriously, otherwise no one else will. Writing is not some random thing in our back-pocket – it is something we have put effort into, and we owe our own work and ourselves that dignity. If you have written something with effort and diligence, you are a writer. You are an author.

Hope these help you and all the best for your writing career!