I've been, what I call, an on and off writer for most of my life. Writing took a back seat to my money job. When I became disabled eight years ago I decided to write full-time. Then I realized if I wanted to make money I was going to have to study and relearn my craft. Time moves on and I had to move with it, to reacquaint myself with the world of writing.
I started at the wrong place, writing a book. While my book will never see the light of day, the learning experience gained, helped me realize I needed to study to find out what writers were doing and how they were doing it. I read everything I could get my hands on to improve my skill as a writer. Then I had to research the market, to find out what editors were looking for and what publications were willing to pay. I've read enough novels to fill a small library, but I needed to read magazines too. I read the publications I felt were compatible with what I knew. Finding holes in my knowledge in this limited area, I moved on to increase my sales marketability.
There's a lot of down time for writers, spending hours a day to research subjects of interest, reading publications, looking through mountains of writer's markets, and after all that, I had nothing left for writing. This led me to setting a schedule for my day, which improved my ability and my sales.
Going through this learning experience took years and while it gave me the skills and knowledge needed to become a published writer, along the way I made many wrong turns. That's why I want to pass on what I know to other writers. Knowledge is the key to obtaining your goal and staying on the right path will get you there. I will be posting blogs on this site to help writers and I hope other writers will add what they've learned too. Check out the writers' market, I will be adding to that weekly.
Don't give up, keep going and you will arrive.
