—Learn to write. Study books on writing. Listen to podcasts. Practice practice practice.
—Find the best sources for writing resources. Be aggressive.
—Don’t budget money to buy books on writing, and don’t budget money for writing conferences, and don’t budget money for caffeine and chocolate. Just buy them.
—Writing conferences are kindergarten for the starter and therapy for the veteran.
—Laughter can clear the room of even the staunchest sadness. As a writer, people are watching you. You're a public figure. Laugh.
—Grief, anger, hatred, frustration, joy…a writer embraces and analyzes his or her emotions constantly. Any strong emotion can be the writer’s friend if she knows how to write about them.
—Pray constantly. Pray for your readers—they have to read your writing. Pray for your spouse—he or she married a writer.
—Pray that what you love to write aligns with the market.
—Spend time with those you love. They’ll teach you more about the depth of life than a passel of books. But the time must be used carefully to coax out their humanity and character, so take quality time.
—Turn off the blasted TV. If you must watch TV, watch shows that everyone watches so you can keep up with what stories they’re interested in. And watch baseball. You can write when watching baseball.
—Be forever positive.
—The bigger the dream, the more details there are to juggle.
—Hope gives the writer wings. Failure gives her direction. Success is confusing. Coffee and chocolate sustain.
—God will do what He wants. Fighting Him is utterly pointless. So give your writing to Him and have fun with it all!
—Consider therapy before you write the first word of your novel.
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Peter Leavell is an award winning historical fiction author. He and his family research together, creating magnificent adventures. Catch up with him on his website at www.peterleavell.com, or friend him on Facebook:
Peter R. Leavell.
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