How to Become a Writer

Having started at a very young age to read, books became something of a passionate obsession - whether it was a big glossy book about sharks or a juicy Famous Five novel by Enid Blyton! Hunting through second-hand book stores for deliciously dusty-smelling tomes on anything was a favourite weekend adventure to indulge in - and being a member of the library wherever I've lived all over the world has been a matter of critical importance! And so, it is no surprise that writing stories was something I started dabbling with around the age of about 6 and continue to potter around in on an almost daily basis.

One of the gremlins, and probably the most frightening and yet most beatable, is the fabled and legendary low self-esteem -- something which has plagued so many of the world's best (and worst!) artists, writers and composers to the point where ears have been sliced off and too many premature deaths have occurred (whether they be of work abandoned, or life itself.) And the terrible irony is that low self-esteem can be remedied by daily writing and the reading of 'heart-food' books which are like chocolate or beer or a goooood cup of coffee: but for the soul! These are books that delight, enrich, intoxicate, nurture, inspire and motivate the artist to stop procrastinating and start making. And before the actual writing of the novel begins, some reading and lots and lots of writing needs to be done: and every single day, come hell or high water! THIS is the key, you see... Daily. Disciplined. Devotion. Diligence.

The first book I most passionately recommend is Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'. She prescribes the daily writing of what she has famously called 'Morning Pages.' This is the first of many inspiring and exciting actions she advises be taken along her journey into creative freedom (and it REALLY works: but you HAVE to DO IT!) Julia Cameron has published numerous other books, my favourites being "The Sound of Paper" and "The Right to Write".

SARK is also a fantastic source of delighted creative juice: ANY of her books are (more than!) helpful - but "Make Your Creative Dreams Real - A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, Avoiders, and People Who Would Rather Sleep All Day" is a MUST! Visit www.planetsark.com to see more.

On a more serious note, Louise de Salvo's book "Writing As a Way of Healing" is based on the premise that the very act of writing is healing and transformative in terms of mental, emotional and physical recovery. De Salvo has studied the life of Virginia Woolf and how devastatingly her childhood sexual abuse by her half-brother affected her, but how her writing became a powerfully cathartic force in her life.

Most recently, I was given a book by Steven King called "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft". I think that even if you are not a King fan, this book will still find its way into your writer's heart because of the way in which King describes the meaning writing has had in his own life (seen in the first half of the book) and then in the second half, his ideas on how to actually go about getting started and - getting published! Easy to read, funny and wonderfully irreverent, his is a plan that can be followed - and enjoyed!

If you haven't already done so, get yourself a copy of any (or all!) of these books, a journal that tickles your inner writer's fancy and a couple of pens that will make you feel like Christmas has come early this year. And get writing! Record your most secret thoughts. Write letters but don't necessarily post them. Describe your bus journey like a fragmented, un-rhyming poem, describe the old, fragile man next you whose nose seems to be constantly dripping, needing a wipe with a faded green hanky.