My Tips for Up & Coming Young Authors

• Keep a journal. I know, you’ve heard it before, but it’s true. Regular journal writing keeps you involved in the writing process. Plus, you can write about anything you want! Get it all out!  Later you can look back on it for ideas. Just make sure it’s in a safe place or its password protected. Journals that fall into the wrong hands can be damaging!

• Write every day. If you are seriously thinking about a career in writing than treat it like a job and write something every day, even if it’s no more than a paragraph. You wouldn’t just skip out on showing up for your job or for school so don’t skip out on writing! You can always go back and change it or delete it if it’s lame. It’s the effort that counts.

• Try to give yourself a break. Ideas won’t always come to you and you may go through dry spells but don’t beat yourself up over it. What seems like poor writing one day can appear to be great on the next.

• Pay attention in your English classes. Yep, it’s boring, but punctuation and grammar count, more than you can imagine!

• Finally, never give up! If you believe that you can do it, you can. It may not happen as quickly as you’d like, but it will happen if you continue writing and keep trying!