Writing Tips

How did I know I wanted to be an author? 

My fifth grade English teacher told me I had talent. Me? At age twelve, I wrote my first novel, about a horse. And I’ve been writing ever since … high school, college, married years, post-married single years.

Do I have any writing rituals or practices?

While coffee is brewing, I sit and meditate – tune in. At the end of my practiced routine (ritual), the words just start coming. And I write them down. (Sometimes, the zone hits me while watching TV. I always have paper and pen handy.)

This routine works with all kinds of writing, even with writing my memoirs. It seems that once I “align,” my mind is focused and clear – and the words just come. Even a few minutes of tuning in makes a huge difference. My meditation technique gets me “there.” The writing is the bonus. So easy! (Especially when it “comes” to you – then all you have to do is edit, and organize.)

What is my advice for aspiring authors?

Never give up. Keep at it. Listen to your own instincts. (I write because I can’t “not” write. I just have to.)

Write, write, and keeping writing. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. Edit, edit, edit.

I highly recommend English grammar classes and writing courses. It is imperative to get critical feedback so you know what you need to improve.

It also helps to have editing skills, grammar courses in high school and college, and several writing courses and workshops.

Also important: submit for publication, everywhere, anywhere (and save every detail for your work resume).

I’ve been publishing since high school (poetry) and college (creative writing classes), much of which were published in national and school journals. In my most-active dating years (post-marriage), I published in regional newsletters over thirty vignette poems (about the dating life), which I later included in my first memoir, I’m Dancing As Fast As I Can. In my post-dance club life, I published several “true love” poems in magazines (U.S. and Canada). Then I wrote and edited on every job I had (even if they didn’t hire me for that, such as temp clerical secretary jobs; it all adds up on the resume, and led to jobs as an editorial assistance, technical editor, technical writer). Once I started my own freelance book editor professional services (in 1994), I published articles in a writers’ club newsletter.

The spirituality writing “came” to me, starting at age thirty, and that was the origin of all the books. (So far, 11 awards on seven titles submitted, published fifteen and more to come, annually.) The spirituality writing includes personal growth, the spiritual path, angels, meditation, psychic protection, discernment, connecting with one’s Higher Self, the inner voice, consciousness, and the soul; plus, cosmology, dimensions, evolution, time and space, new scientific discoveries (and predictions) in science and medicine, origins of humanity,the future, and the new humanity (my specialty, since 1975).

Tip for spirituality writing: meditate, daily. Listen. Receiving and intuiting are practiced skills, too.

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All posts copyright Charol Messenger.