Writing is a gift –I believe we are born with it. It’s up to you to nurture it, practice it, stubbornly stick with it and learn all you can to develop it. Only other writers really understand it, so seek them out when things get tough. The Internet has been the best thing that ever happened to writers –it gives us all a place to come together. Good luck to you!
Be sure to research any agent, publisher, or writing-related business before you jump in. (This is much easier since we gained the Internet!) There are a lot of people out there who will take advantage of a writer’s heartfelt dream to be published. Go cautiously; respect the time and hard work you’ve invested in your writing. It will be worth it in the long run.
Also see my article “How to Write the Perfect Query Letter” on the Eclectics Writer Pages
Recommended BOOKS
On being a Writer/ Motivational Books:
Judith Cameron, THE ARTIST’S WAY
Natalie Goldberg, WRITING DOWN THE BONES
Anne Lamott, BIRD BY BIRD
S. Shaughnessy, WALKING ON ALLIGATORS
Literary & Genre Traditons:
Joseph Campbell, THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES
Jayne Ann Krentz (ed.), DANGEROUS MEN, ADVENTUROUS WOMEN
Writing Technique/ Story Telling:
Diane Ackerman, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES
Jack Bickham, SCENE AND STRUCTURE
Leonard Bishop, DARE TO BE A GREAT WRITER
Lawrence Block, WRITING THE NOVEL
R. Browne & D. King, SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS
Orson Scott Card, CHARACTER AND VIEWPOINT
Debra Dixon, GOAL, MOTIVATION & CONFLICT
Gary Provost, MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT
(other titles, too –all his books are great!)
Linda Seger, CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS
Strunk & White, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE
Dwight Swain, TECHNIQUES OF THE SELLING WRITER
(also other titles by him)
Christopher Vogler, THE WRITER’S JOURNEY
Recommended WRITER’S GROUPS
Seek out your local writers –often libraries have contact information, but a quick search online ought to find them for you. Some groups offer contests, workshops, critique groups, local meetings if geographical, and sometimes local conferences.
By genre: if you are writing romance, many of the chapters of the national Romance Writers of America went independent and can be found by searching online by your genre .
RWA chapters require additional membership fees (and you must already be a member of the national RWA).
If you are interested in writing Regency-set romance (or any Regency-set fiction), I strongly recommend Regency Fiction Writers, formerly the Beau Monde Chapter of RWA, but now much bigger. The discussion forum alone is worth the price of membership, but there are monthly classes and so much more!
The website is still: https://thebeaumonde.com