Start to Write

There are so many genres and sub-genres in the writing field, today, that it can be confusing. Follow the headings of Science Fiction to Fantasy to Horror to Romance to Suspense to Crime, and you will discover combinations of all of the above. Pick your passion. Which one of these genres to you read most often? That was a really hard choice for me. I read a cross section of many of these genres, so it was challenging to choose just one. Still that choice must be made before your writing can mature into salable work.

Don't despair when it comes to identifying your start point. One legend among Southern California authors says that Dean Koontz actually started first in an entirely different genre. After giving his first manuscript to a famous author to review, the author's feedback guided him to the suspense/thriller genre in which he now excels. (Yes...he is often shelved in the Horror section, but doesn't in my book really belong there. It's a marketing ploy rather than a definition of his works). The point is that we all need a starting point.

Choose your starting genre and jump into it. My sister, Roxy, has written several romance novels. She is good. Her characters are appealing and her storyline is complex. Still she receives rejection letters. Is she a real writer? Yes! Money does not make a writer. Even publication, as we all know, does not make a writer...at least not a good one. How many of us have wandered through the book stacks, pulled paperbacks off the shelves and said, "I can write better than that!"

Many authors that are published languish in the public eye for two reasons. #1 - They started. #2 - They finished.

Start your writing career, today!