“Anyone who has read any of the dozen books that prolific Jodi Picoult has released in the past 14 years knows that she is arguably the Queen of the Topical Novel.” - Miami Herald
I think I’m a writer … how do I know for sure?
Oh, you’d know it. Real writers can’t sleep because there are stories batting around inside their heads. Real writers create characters they weep over because they are so real. Real writers can’t not write. I think you can make a person a better writer technically by having him/ her attend workshops and creative writing programs, but I think that at the basal level, writers are born, not made.
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to be a writer?
Do it. Many people have a novel inside them, but most don’t bother to get it out. Writing is grunt work — you need to have self-motivation, perseverance, and faith. If you don’t believe in yourself, and you don’t have the fortitude to make that dream happen, why should the hotshots in the publishing world take a chance on you? I don’t believe that you need an MFA to be a writer, but I do think you need to take some good workshops. These are often offered through writer’s groups or community colleges.
You need to learn to write on demand and get critiqued without flinching. When someone can rip your work to shreds without it feeling as though your arm has been hacked off, you’re ready to send your novel off to an agent. There’s no magic way to get one of those — it took me longer to find my wonderful agent than it did to get published! I suggest the Literary Marketplace or another library reference material.
Keep sending out your work and don’t get discouraged when it comes back from an agent — just send it out to a different one. Attend signings/lectures by authors, and in your free time, read, read, read. All of this will make you a better writer. And — here’s a critical part — when you finally start to write something, do not let yourself stop, even when you are convinced it’s the worst garbage ever. This is the biggest caveat for beginning writers. Instead, force yourself to finish what you began, and THEN go back and edit it. If you keep scrapping your beginnings, however, you’ll never know if you can reach an end.