Gigi
asked
Roger Macdonald Andrew:
I enjoyed your book tremendously and would appreciate your advice for aspiring writers who plan to embark on the journey of writing their own book?
Roger Macdonald Andrew
Hi Gigi
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed reading 'Forgive' and thank you also for your question. It’s a really good one (an absolute cracker in fact!) that deserves a thoughtful and well-considered response. I shall answer it briefly here as space may be limited, and then put together some more thoughts in a blog post next week.
PART ONE
A good place for aspiring writers to start may be to sit back for a moment or two and seek clarity by asking themselves some fundamental questions such as ‘Why�. Why do you want to be a writer?
Your questions might head off in at least three directions.
Are you skilled with words, interested in communicating ideas and would like, ideally, to see your work in print? Would you like to evolve your skills to the point where they are appreciated by an employer, or employers, and suitably rewarded? Would you like to pursue a formal qualification so that you could, quite legitimately, make a professional living through your writing skills?
Alternatively, what is the message you care about so deeply that it’s literally bursting to get out and become heard? What do you love most about the written word, what do you adore about language, and what excites you about shaping those words into persuasive, amazing patterns? And then, last here, but not least, what is it about you and your unique personality that will help to fuel the delivery of your words with such compelling power and passion that your readers will be enthralled, want more and hurry along to turn the next page?
The two thoughts above are not mutually exclusive � you can have and be both, if you want to. You can be both a skilled and appreciated journalist or business-oriented writer� and you can take an even harder, more demanding path and live by your imaginative writing wits as a novelist, dramatist, poet or short story writer.
And that’s where the third possibility enters the fray. Become a qualified writer through education and training in a specific field � and then indulge your imaginative authoring adventures in your spare time. That’s a very smart way of hedging your bets and having your literary cake as well as eating it!
It comes back to answering that very first question which is Why? Why do you really want to become a writer? It’s well worth spending some time on that one and pondering the possibilities!
In PART TWO next week, we’ll share some other thoughts on topics such as:
Educational writing courses;
Reaching out to more writers;
Joining a Writers� Association;
Tapping into a local writers� group;
Appreciating the importance of mentoring;
Understanding publishing in the Brave New World of Amazon and Kindle.
Until then, best wishes Gigi!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed reading 'Forgive' and thank you also for your question. It’s a really good one (an absolute cracker in fact!) that deserves a thoughtful and well-considered response. I shall answer it briefly here as space may be limited, and then put together some more thoughts in a blog post next week.
PART ONE
A good place for aspiring writers to start may be to sit back for a moment or two and seek clarity by asking themselves some fundamental questions such as ‘Why�. Why do you want to be a writer?
Your questions might head off in at least three directions.
Are you skilled with words, interested in communicating ideas and would like, ideally, to see your work in print? Would you like to evolve your skills to the point where they are appreciated by an employer, or employers, and suitably rewarded? Would you like to pursue a formal qualification so that you could, quite legitimately, make a professional living through your writing skills?
Alternatively, what is the message you care about so deeply that it’s literally bursting to get out and become heard? What do you love most about the written word, what do you adore about language, and what excites you about shaping those words into persuasive, amazing patterns? And then, last here, but not least, what is it about you and your unique personality that will help to fuel the delivery of your words with such compelling power and passion that your readers will be enthralled, want more and hurry along to turn the next page?
The two thoughts above are not mutually exclusive � you can have and be both, if you want to. You can be both a skilled and appreciated journalist or business-oriented writer� and you can take an even harder, more demanding path and live by your imaginative writing wits as a novelist, dramatist, poet or short story writer.
And that’s where the third possibility enters the fray. Become a qualified writer through education and training in a specific field � and then indulge your imaginative authoring adventures in your spare time. That’s a very smart way of hedging your bets and having your literary cake as well as eating it!
It comes back to answering that very first question which is Why? Why do you really want to become a writer? It’s well worth spending some time on that one and pondering the possibilities!
In PART TWO next week, we’ll share some other thoughts on topics such as:
Educational writing courses;
Reaching out to more writers;
Joining a Writers� Association;
Tapping into a local writers� group;
Appreciating the importance of mentoring;
Understanding publishing in the Brave New World of Amazon and Kindle.
Until then, best wishes Gigi!
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