Can’t you stop writing down in that notebook that accompanies you a thousand ideas that occur to you daily? Do you always help your friends when they are in front of you by asking, “Could you please write my paper for me free?” Do you want to that you want to turn your ideas into complete stories with a beginning and an end?

You may have even started to write an outline of a novel. It’s still only a draft, but you know you have a lot to learn, but every day, you try to develop your characters and polish those scenes that gush from your imagination. That was my story. Writers are not born – they are made.

1. Observe

Are you a voyeur? Do you often listen in on other people’s conversations?

This is not a test of politeness, we are trying to determine if you have the makings of a writer.

So if you like to watch what people do, how they behave, listen to what they say and how they say it… You’ll be a good novelist!

Writing is about bearing witness to the life around you. You have to look at what is going on around you. If you want to create real characters, write believable dialogue, devise interesting plots, and sit back and observe.

 2. Question everything

To become a writer you have to question everything.

Good literature tries to answer those transcendental questions that human beings have been asking since the beginning of the world. Surely there is no single good answer. There may be as many as there have been people throughout history.

In any case, the job of a writer is to ask questions. Question everything.

Why do we wake up and go to work every day? Why do people get married and have children? Why don’t we like to grow old? That way you will find a question you want to answer. And that will be the germ of a novel.

 3. Don’t censor yourself

You are your own harshest critic.

You keep telling yourself that you are not up to the task. That you can’t write anything worthwhile. That you will never finish your novel. And that, even if you do finish it, it will never be a novel that readers will like.

You treat yourself so harshly that you lose the will to write.

Writing should be fun. It’s certainly hard and takes practice, but you must enjoy the process.

So relax a bit. Let the ideas flow. Write. You probably won’t write a perfect piece the first time, but who does?

You’ll correct it later. You’ll get better with practice. You will learn.

Permit yourself to write. Believe in yourself a little. Enjoy it.

4. Write first, correct later

As we said above, writing and correcting it first is important.

Being a perfectionist is good, but the first thing is to finish that novel or story you’re writing.

If you stop to rewrite every sentence and every paragraph, you’ll never see it finished. Taking too long to finish something is the best way to get discouraged and throw in the towel.

So let yourself go and write without thinking too much.

Only when you have written your story from beginning to end can you revise and correct it.

A trick: set yourself a (short) deadline by which your novel has to be finished. Use that time to write, don’t stop to revise.

5. Get on with it now

You have a notebook full of ideas to turn into novels. If you want to be a writer, you can’t wait to see your first novel published. But you need to do something to achieve your goals.

You need to have the perseverance to write every day. You think investing time or money to improve your writing is not for you. You tell yourself that you don’t have time to get serious about writing and preparing your novel for publication right now. 

Your dreams will never come true if you don’t get on with it today. 

Published by HOLR Magazine.