Creative Writing/Novel?

Question

I really enjoy writing and think I could do it as a career but I don't know if I'm actually any good. I've written acouple poems and such but I don't know if I could make it. I really want to write for a magazine or something. Does anyone know of people who can see if you're any good at what you do? Just to see if it's actually worth it to invest all this time?? Here's hoping...please help.

Answer 1

Don't take a "creative writing" class, take a "fundamentals of writing" class. Start with the basics. Creativity is partly nature and partly nurture. Either way, being able to express it in a manner that a wide audience can understand is a learned skill set.

Take such a class from a local university as part of a continuing education program. Make sure the teacher is a published author himself/herself.

Answer 2

There are many so called "book doctors" out there, but it is advisable to do your homework before looking at one of these. I include one link for you to read and remember most of these services come at a cost. www.writing2sell.com/critique.htm

Furthermore, you might consider placing some of your work on a site such as lit.org (I have several stories there) and see what other readers and writers think.

Other sources of assistance might be your local newspaper editor or an English teacher. If you can find one of these who will give your work a look, you will have a good idea where you stand.

Answer 3

You've mentioned creative writing/novel, poetry, and magazine writing. All of these require different skills. For magazines, you could be writing journalism or fiction. And the skills for poetry and novel writing couldn't be more different.

So, think about what you want to focus upon. If you want to write fiction, learn about how to tell a story. Literary criticism or writing fundamentals are not going to help you there. But they will help with poetry and maybe with journalism. But if you're wanting to write journalism, take journalism courses.

Also, there are many message boards and people who will be glad to skim or read your material deaply and give opinions. Depending on what you decide to focus on, it's out there, even if you need helping deciding what type of writing you want to do.

Answer 4

I know how you're feeling. I love to write and I think my work is good and so does my family but I have no clue if I could actually make it in the real world. All we can do is basically submit our work to contests and try to get ourselves noticed I guess.

Answer 5

Many community colleges and universities offer Creative Writing and other writing courses. Look on the websites of the universities and/community college websites in your city.
Your writing will be critiqued in class.