Tip #4

Entering competitions can be an excellent way to not only gain a name for yourself (hopefully in a positive way) within the industry, it can add credibility to yourself as a writer especially if you do win some of the illustrious prizes.  

There are many competitions out there ranging from short story writing, poetry, mentorships and essays.

An amazing list of competitions can be found at the following link:

Good luck peeps!

http://www.austwriters.com/AWRfiles/competitions.htm

Tip #3

Join Groups and Social Network your Goals!

Join writing groups...whether it be a group where you can take samples of work to be critiqued by other novices or a social group to catch up over a wine or six (a must being a writer!) as I take another sip to write this blog...

Joining groups will make you feel a part of something rather than just a lonely soloist.

Groups can also be a great source of inspiration and can help keep you on track.  

Being able to set goals to a real group of people, like, "by the time we meet next week I will have written 10,000 more words"..if you don't then you have to face the shame and come up with excuses why you didn't achieve your goal..

I usually also Tweet my goals and once I have committed that Tweet, because I follow and am followed by so many other authors, I feel I have to achieve my goals and I do...And isn't it so nice to receive that praise from fellow writers at how well you are doing and keep up the good work, makes it all worthwhile to know you have friends in the same boat who care about your word count. 

Speaking of Twitter, following fellow authors, publishers, booksellers etc can bring about great contacts and ideas, you never know, that publisher you constantly tweet may end up loving your novel and you've already got some semblance of a relationship with them.  So on that note, always be mindful of what you Tweet also ;-)

Writing groups can be found through www.meetup.com or even through Twitter and Facebook.

Happy Tweeting!

Tip #2

READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ

...and then....

READ SOME MORE!!!

There is nothing like reading a diverse range of genres and a mix of contemporary novels with a load of classics. 

Even if you do not aspire to write prose like Jane Austen or thrillers like Tom Clancy, there is always something that can be learnt from reading widely.

Books can be an amazing source of inspiration, not only for storylines but for how to write in a certain way.

Books can help you find your own voice and style.

If you find yourself constantly drawn to a certain type of book perhaps that is the style that you would be most comfortable writing in.  

You must love your own style and what you write, because if you don't love it, then why would your readers.  

By the way...WHO Magazine does not count unless you want to be a features writer.  

So join a Book Club, local library or raid those bookstores and do yourself and your potential readers a favour by learning from those who have made their mark on the publishing world and you never know, one day somebody may be reading your book as inspiration!

Tip #1

WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!

Write everyday...

Hemingway wrote 500 words a day..

Sure sometimes you just don't have the energy or inspiration to know where to start but to write just 500 words a day would mean a first draft for a 400 page novel of 100,000 words could be written in 6 months. 

So with that thought in mind, better still, write 1000 per day and have it ready in 3 months :-)

True writing is about getting the story down, not the research or the outline, but the words that make it onto the page.  The only way to start and finish is to make it part of your daily ritual..

Now to take my own advice and write up a storm!