“Poof,” I am an author.

Posted by Emma Hox on Aug 3, 2011 in Blog, Writing | 3 comments

Wouldn’t it be a fantastic thing if you could read a book about writing and then — “poof!” — become an author? Unfortunately, that cannot happen. You have to experience the act of writing to become an author. Not only that, you must experience it a lot to become a good author.

I have heard that an author needs to write one million words before their work is truly great enough to top the bestsellers chart. Then I turned the corner and another said they found someone born with the talent and their first and only book ever written topped the bestsellers chart.

The one thing that both of these proficient authors have in common is this… writing. They both sat down and wrote a story. They started at the beginning (or perhaps a scene in the middle) and wrote until they finished. The author did not give up; they just wrote. Most likely, once they were done, they did it again.

This writing, first one story and then another, gave them experience. Then the writing made them an author.

What made the author special? What made them face their writing blocks? What made this author shun the demoralizing commentary from coworkers, family members and neighbors to write a story that may or may not ever see the printed page?

They made themselves do it.  They developed the worthy goal of becoming an author and then they took the initiative to make that goal a reality.

So what makes you any different?

Nothing!

If you want to become a successful author you need to set some writing goals for yourself. I challenge you to take a moment and think about some. Set them now, but remember a few things.

If you set a goal too high you will block your creativity and it will become more difficult than ever. Be realistic with your goals.

Emma Hox, writing 'Longbourn's Unexpected Matchmaker'

Remember that only you can achieve your goal, and if you do not make the time for it you have already blocked yourself from doing it. After I wrote “Longbourn’s Unexpected Matchmaker” I had tons of people ask me how in the world I had time to write with a job, kids, husband, house, church and life in general. Do you know what my response to them was? I make time for the things I want to do.  I wanted to write a novel, so I did.

Frequently the person then tells me that they have also had a dream of writing, but even if they wanted to they could not find the time to write. Then they proceed to lay out their equally as busy and hectic schedule to prove their point and then lead into our next conversation by telling me about this great movie they just saw. Voila – 2 hours you could have used to write.

A person who chooses to become an author and write chooses to give up that TV show, movie, concert, shopping outing or whatever else it may be to pursue their passion.

So how do you manage your time so that you can write? In my next post, I will tell you what I do to manage my writing time.