i want to be a writer.?

Question

i love writing. im pretty creative you could say.
im writing a book at the moment - typing it, and i really want to hopefully send it off to publishers.
im interested in journalism also.
my question is: should i study subjects that can help me in journalism, or not worry about it and focuz on writing?
cause i dont know whether my writing will even be accepted.
HELP!!
<3

Answer 1

I'd say, judging by the way you've written your question, that you need to take some time to study grammar, punctuation, and syntax before thinking of writing professionally.
You seem to be able to clearly convey your thoughts, and that's a good thing. But you also need to clean-up your technique if you wish to work in a professional venue.
Keep practicing, and show your work to others, encouraging them to give you honest input.

Answer 2

If your school has a monthly or weekly paper, see about joining the staff. I learned a lot working on my high school news paper- I eventually became Editor! If you have experience in that field then you might be able to get an internship once you've graduated- if you work on the school paper and find that you really like journalism, then you might want to consider going to college for that. BUT, journalism is an aggresive field and you have to be able to meet deadlines and catch your mistakes, if you make them at all. The type of writing is different from creative writing or the essays you do in school- make sure you enjoy it before you go after it.

Answer 3

Keep writing on that book. The hardest thing for a beginning writer to do is finish that first book. Once you've done it, you have a headstart on thousands of other beginning writers who have not gotten that far.

Writing takes a lot of practice and study, but don't get discouraged. It takes time and experience.

Journalism is a good career field, but technical writing will pay better. Corporations hire technical writers to write manuals, instructions, and presentations all the time. Technical writers are among the best paid writers.

For your information, only 3% of writers make a living by writing. This includes all the fiction writers, the journalists, and technical writers plus screen writers. With the exception of a few best selling writers, no one makes a good living off of fiction. Doesn't mean we won't keep trying, though.

Answer 4

It depends whether you want to write fiction or non-fiction. I wrote non-fiction for a long time, with word count deadlines. I became pretty good at concise writing - cutting words without losing the meaning. Then I wanted to write fiction. I had to give up non-fiction altogether because it is just so different than writing fiction. I had to learn to add detail and description to my fiction that had been unnecessary in my non-fiction.
By all means, study journalism if this is what you're most interested in, but there are also some good creative writing courses out there that seem to yield some fairly decent writers.

Answer 5

Who is your audience? Your readers? Are you writing what you know? Do you read? Do you have a favorite author? Does he/she inspire you?

Does it matter if 'your writing is accepted?' Really? Are you only writing for acceptance? Why are you writing? Does your keyboard have a shift key?

That you are typing your book is impressive. Some authors didn't even have a keyboard, let alone a computer. Is it important that your book have a special 'look?'

What should you study? You should study the basics in education.. English is good. Style is good. History is good. Art is good. World studies, Women's studies, Black Studies, Science? All of these are the building blocks of your education. Math gives you a practical take .. your brain has to deal with absolutes.

Then.. write what you know. Choose a published author you love and try his/her style. Write every day. Don't think.. Just write. Find The Zen of Writing by Ray Bradbury and see if you can make sense of it?

Study everything. Write what you love and what you know.

Journalism? That has to do with observation and listening. Not the same, is it? Try writing an article about a kid who wants to be a writer?

Good luck.

Answer 6

I love writing, too, and began writing little skits, plays, etc. when I was a little girl. English was always my favorite subject and the one I did best in. Continue writing your book. Look around for a local writer's group (I joined one 2 1/2 yrs. ago and it's helped me tremendously!). A good one will have members read aloud and critique: not subject matter, but punctuation, clarity, form, etc. It is absolutely helpful!

Just keep writing. Write as much as possible and always re-read and edit, edit, edit. You will become a more adept writer if you are able to be honest w/yourself. Get good guides to help. They don't have to be big or expensive. For example, I have two I got at Barnes/Noble: Powerful Writing Skills (a very small book) and Edit Yourself.

Also, I got a job about 13 mos. ago as a freelance newspaper columnist and have never had any kind of journalism training. I did take creative writing courses, however, in college.

Good luck, and keep on writing!!

Answer 7

Just get the first novel done, and then write another, and another. Keep writing to hone your skills. In the meanwhile, join a group of fellow writers and swap work to get feedback, or else just give it to someone you feel incredibly embarrassed about giving it to, because they are most likely to be honest with you. Their feedback will most likely let you know what you really need to work on, and also how best to please your intended audience.
After I finished my first novel, I had to extensively edit.You'll need to do that too. I did 16 edits before I was satisfied, including reworking sections, plotlines and language. Be prepared for that, finishing is the first step, but editing is another, and is perhaps more frustrating even then the Writer's Block.
What genre of writing do you do? Try to find fellow writer's of the same genre for support and inspiration.
Write short stories also, a lot of them, they are much easier to get published, particularily on e-zines. They're a good stepping stone to magazines, and eventually novels, as most publishers will not accept any unsolicited works, and so having your name out there helps!
Aim your first novel towards smaller publishing companies, as they are more likely to accept unsolicited works, and check out various publisher's guidelines on what manuscripts they will accept (word count, page lay out, etc)
I am studying journalism and it's very different to creative writing, so I suggest creative writing classes or else getting some books from the library, there are some excellent ones you can borrow that help to improve your style and language, as well as some with exercises to help you work on your faults. However, do not just focus on creative writing, you have to make a living somehow, and unfortunately, writing doesn't come with regular, large paychecks. So I do suggest studying journalism.
(As a side note, focus on your spelling, sentence structure, and your punctuation, Focuz is not a real word. In order to develop good writing habits it is best to write properly all the time, including online!)
Good luck.

Answer 8

You could do both. Major in Journalism and use your elective courses to study Creative Writing. The more you write the better you will become and classes are always helpful. You can have your cake and eat it too.

Answer 9

A good first step would be to learn how to write properly. You might have a million ideas for the greatest novel ever written, but those ideas aren't going to reach the public if you can't spell, write a complete sentence, or punctuate properly. Manuscripts with more than a few of those errors will end up in the trash almost immediately.

Answer 10

Yes - enjoy your writing and use it to balance the journalism. Writing for one's self is vastly different than writing for others. The medium of paper vs. mag vs. book vs. net is also type specific.
Your # suggests you like the creative act of expressing yourself in the semi-private space of writing. Excellent. i shall look forward to reading your best sellers.