How to Be a Successful Good Writer: 5 Practical Tips

It is possible to increase your chances of Be a good writer . If you really want it, I'll show you a simple way that you probably will not have read, although it is very effective.

Surely you have already informed that you have to read a lot, write a lot, Improve your creativity , Improve your vocabulary, work your grammar, spelling...

How to be a good writer

However, all that is logical, it is there, everyone can reach it. You have the tools but not a path That you can follow. It is so obvious, that I think you can forget the keys that can truly make the difference.

In my opinion, if you really want to become a professional writer, 50% depends on strategy, attitude and psychology. Another part is technique, talent and probably Some luck , Although the latter can be created.

Although I will mention some of these aspects in the end, I do not consider them the most important. I think you have to take into account others that will make a difference.

1- Research your favorite writers

It is often said that" the success Leaves trail"and is very true. Every time a person has succeeded or achieved some great achievement, you can know many of the steps he has taken.

It is possible that a great writer does not show some of the keys to his success, which part is due to talent or even luck, but if you know what he has done and what path he has followed, you will know a way to achieve it.

This is not easy, but you will notice that you have usually followed paths or taken actions That people do not usually do . And it is what you will have to do. You can not be a great author of novels if you do the same thing that everyone does.

I am going to give you several examples of the most important events in the life of great novelists.

In my opinion, there have probably been many people throughout history who have been able to write very well, but who did not have that "Special ingredient" Which is the great leap. My proposal is not that you neglect the basics (read a lot, have good grammar, practice...) but also look for those"special ingredients".

Logically I can not put all the biographies now, but events that I consider keys and that you can learn. I encourage you to read more about the lives of your favorite novelists or poets.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

With less than 13 years it wrote humoristic poems and drew humorous strips.
Doña Tranquilina Iguarán, her grandmother, told her Fables And family legends: she was the source of the magical, superstitious and supernatural vision of reality.
In Zipaquirá he had as professor of literature, between 1944 and 1946, to Carlos Julio Calderón Hermida, who encouraged to him to be writer.
In the early 1940s he joined the Barranquilla Group, which topics and taught the young writers in the making. They analyzed authors, dismantled works and reassembled them, which allowed to discover the tricks that were used by novelists.
In 1945 he wrote sonnets and octosyllabic poems inspired by a girlfriend who had
After graduation in 1947, Garcia Marquez remained in Bogota to study law at the National University of Colombia, where he had a special dedication to reading.
One of his favorite works was The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka.
He was excited by the idea of writing, not traditional literature, but in a style similar to his grandmother's stories, in which"extraordinary events and anomalies are inserted as if they were simply an aspect of everyday life."
At the age of 20 he published his first short story, The Third Resignation, which appeared on September 13, 1947 in the El Espectador newspaper.
In 1948 he began working as a reporter for El Universal.
In 1950 he worked in Barranquilla as a columnist and reporter in the newspaper El Heraldo.

Julio Verne

Many biographers claim that in 1839, at age eleven, he escaped from home to be a cabin boy in a merchant who traveled to India called Coralie, with the intention of buying a necklace of pearls for his cousin Caroline. It seems that his father reached the boat and made him promise that he would dream only in dreams. Would this have influenced so much imagination?
A teacher told her anecdotes about her sailor husband.
He was interested in poetry and science. He read and collected scientific articles, showing an almost sick curiosity that would last a lifetime.
In 1846 he began to write prose.
In 1847 he wrote a play: Alexander VI.
In 1848 he was introduced by his uncle Châteaubourg into literary circles, where he met the Dumas, father and son; The former will have great personal and literary influence in Verne.
Although he finished the career in 1849, he refused to be a lawyer (what his father wanted) and spent all his savings on books and spent long hours in the Paris libraries wanting to know everything. There were so many of his expenses that he went hungry and had digestive disorders. He studied geology, engineering and astronomy
In 1850, to the 22 years of age, it writes a light comedy, The broken straws that manages to release in Paris thanks to Dumas, without much success.
Between 1848 and 1863 he dedicated himself to writing opera librettos and plays. His first success came when he published Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863)
He traveled to Scotland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark.
In 1863 he began a friendship with the adventurer, journalist and photographer Felix Tournachon.

Agatha Christie

He received a private education until his adolescence and studied at various institutes in Paris.
He learned to read at 4 years of age.
From an early age she developed an interest and curiosity about the paranormal.
At the age of 16, she attended Mrs. Dryden's school in Paris to study, sing, dance and piano.
He read a lot from an early age and among his favorite books were the infantile ones written by Mrs. Molesworth, including The Adventures of Herr Baby (1881), Christmas Tree Land (1897) and The Magic Nuts (1898). He also read Edith Nesbit's work, especially titles such as The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899), The Phoenix and the Carpet (1903) and The Railway Children (1906).
In 1910 he moved to Cairo, staying for three months at the Gezirah Palace Hotel. His first novel, Snow Upon the Desert, was based on his experiences in those cities.
Back in Britain, he continued his social activities, writing and performing amateur theater, even helped during the production of The Blue Beard of Unhappiness.
In 1914 she worked as a volunteer at Torquay Hospital where she worked as a nurse.
He worked for the Red Cross between 1916 and 1918, an occupation that had influence in his work since many of the murders he related were carried out with poisons.
He had to fight for 4 years to get someone to publish his first novel in 1920, The Mysterious Case of Styles.

2- What do you have in common that you can learn?

In my opinion García Márquez, Verne and Christie have in common:

They started reading from an early age.
They published their first very young works. They did not succeed at first, they continued to publish.
Unless you are a fan of one of these novelists, it is likely that you only know your best known novels. They published many works and in the great majority they had"average triumphs". But his great works as One Hundred Years of Solitude, Journey to the Center of the Earth or Journey on the Nile Gave him his historical fame. Therefore, write a lot and publish. It is likely that the first or even the tenth is not successful. But the more you publish, the more likely you are.
They had certain vital events that marked them. Márquez (his grandmother told him magical tales), Verne (he had an innate curiosity and at age 11 he wanted to travel to India), Christie (experiences in the hospital with poisonings).
They were curious and developed a special interest in various subjects. Márquez (magical vision of the reality), Verne (traveling), Cristie (assassinations, the paranormal).
They had conditions that allowed them to develop as writers: if they had been born in very humble families they would not have learned to read or write.

I encourage you to read more biographies of great writers, help you develop your reading skills, grammar and also know what they did to achieve their achievements.

Did they have exceptional talent?

I would say yes, they had talent, but rather a talent developed and that anyone with similar circumstances could develop.

In any case, I have always thought that we should not focus on what can not be changed. So, if you want to be a writer, focus your attention on what you can do and change.

Work and perseverance always end up overcoming talent.

Helen Keller was deaf-mute and one of the greatest writers in history.

The best and most beautiful of this life can not be seen or touched, it must feel with the heart .-Helen Keller.

4-Attitudes

For me, if you want to get something, the attitude is going to be the most important thing. At first you will not get it, you will have to overcome great barriers, accept failures and motivate you to move forward. The keys are:

Do something you like: write about something that pleases you.
Be curious: investigate topics that you like, learn fast and have a lot of knowledge to write about.
Persevere: constancy often makes the difference.
Motivate yourself : Think about the rewards of achieving your achievements.
Enjoy the road: if you do not enjoy the road you probably will not get anywhere because the road will be long.
Dare to do things that others do not: join writing clubs, have unique experiences that help you write.
If you are going to try to publish your work, do not give up at first.

5- The importance of perseverance and not listening to negatives

There are people, even great psychologists, who warn of the danger of perseverance. You can waste time and opportunity if you work on something wrong.

But without it, it is almost impossible to achieve any great achievement. The solution is to enjoy the road and learn, this way even if you do not get what you propose, you will not have wasted time.

These are some famous writers who did not succeed at first:

William Golding was rejected by more than 20 publishers for Lord of the Flies .
One editor once said to Scott Fitzgerald,"You'd have a decent book if you did not have Gatsby's character."
' harry potter and the Philosopher's Stone 'Was rejected by dozens of publishers, including some great ones like Penguin and HarperCollins.
George Orwell was told:"It is not possible to sell stories about animals in the United States"(speaking of Rebelion on the farm ).
Stephen King was also rejected several times when he tried to publish Carrie , His first novel. One of the comments was:"We are not interested in science fiction that has to do with negative utopias. They do not sell."
The editor of Dr. Seuss rejected 16 originals of his before accepting one of them.
Marcel Proust was rejected so many times that he decided to pay someone out of his own pocket to publish.
18 editors thought that a book on a seagull was somewhat ridiculous before Richard Bach could publish Juan Salvador Gaviota.
Ana Frank's diary Was rejected by a total of 15 publishers before seeing the light.

6- Other skills; The"logics"

Read many novels and reflect on the author's writing. Only with reading you will learn the style of the great writers, what they do, their vocabulary, grammar, style...
Write a lot and show your creations. Constructive criticism can be very good.
Pay special attention to grammar.
Join writing clubs.
He practices a lot, every day for months and years.

And what do you think? Who do you think are the keys to becoming a good author? Are you trying? You can comment below. I am interested in your opinion. Thanks!