Tips For An Author

A writer writes, that much is obvious, but when you start talking about what he or she writes and how it is written, it become much less clear. Each author has a personal style and it is that style that sorts the wheat from the chaff. Everyone almost certainly has a favourite author and that usually means that the person likes the style in which that author writes.

Information is also vital, but style is important even in technical writing although in technical writing}, the best style is to being fair and impersonal. After all, a mechanic does not check with a manual on a certain car's gearbox to read the author's personal opinion of that gearbox, but the same individual will read a review of the car as a whole by an author whose opinion he or she respects.

I know individuals who have not read a book since school because they were put off by Shakespeare. In one case, a teacher told the boy that he was clearly a moron if he could not see why Shakespeare was the best dramatist ever. He still cannot understand why, and it ended his reading.

The first tip for a author is to read lots, but never to copy. No-one wants to read work that strives to be a copy of someone else's style. If you like Shakespeare and you read it often, it will almost certainly have an effect on your style naturally without you having to do it on purpose, but that is different from impersonation. That is influence and that is not always a bad thing.

After you have had the impulse to wrote, you have to take the decision what to write about. Are you going to become a novelist or a writer of ad hoc pieces? You could do both. You need to eat and a (first) novel may take years to finish, writing articles may place food on the table in the meanwhile.

There are many web sites that provide writing projects for article writers. Usually, you have to list what you can write on and provide a free sample. If you are accepted onto the register, you can browse the list of articles for which clients have put orders. When you have finished it, you upload it, which is very simple, and if it is approved, the payment is transferred to your account.

In my experience, writers get better the more they write, so do not become discouraged if you find it difficult to get going when you first begin in your writing life. Confidence comes with practice. in most lines of work, including writing.

The best piece of advice about writing that I have ever been given is 'to write for at least ten minutes every day'. It was the daily suggestion in a diary I had around 15 years ago. I remind myself of it at least once every week.

The best thing about it is that I find it impossible to write for only 10 minutes. It may take a time to get started, but once I'm off, an hour or two flies past without me noticing. Try it and see for yourself.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on quite a number of subjects, but is at present concerned with Professional Translation Services. If you want to know more go to our website at Real Translator Jobs Advice.