by: Shannon Redmon @shannon_redmon

We all love to get packages under the tree with our names on the top. Secret treasures hidden underneath colorful wrapping and fluffy bows. Unfortunately, I can’t leave a package under your tree but I can provide a few gifts and treasures I wish I’d known when I started writing. Many gracious authors helped my writing improve and I want to share what I’ve learned as my Christmas gift to you! So, grab your hot cocoa, a festive notepad and hang on to your Santa’s hat because here we go!

Be humble.

There are so many great writers creating amazing stories and you are one of them. However, that doesn’t mean your work in progress is going to shoot to the number one spot on the national bestseller’s list with your first try. If it does, then please feel free to correct me but most authors write multiple books to refine their craft before getting published. Make sure to listen to the editor’s feedback without getting defensive. They truly want to help make your story better. They want you to succeed. What they don’t want is an author who gets defensive when they try to help.

Writing for your heart and the market.

Most of the time we sit down, come up with an amazing story we love, but editors still refuse to publish the piece because the story does not fit their audience or the overall general market. We should write stories we love but also with an eye on what our target publisher wants also. If they don’t think it will sell, then they will not contract the story. Research your target company and make sure you know what kind of stories they like to see and follow their guidelines to a tee.

Know your genre.

Most of us know the main ones: Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi, Historical, Adventure, Mystery, and Horror, along with a few more. What I didn’t know until later in my writing career is all the subgenres within a genre. For example, I write Romance Suspense which falls under the Romance genre and there are so many more to research.

Read good authors in your subgenre.

The more I read the more my writing improves. Also, reading multiple authors, helps us to hone our own style so our voice is unique and keeps our stories creative.

Study the craft.

Conferences, writing classes and craft books will help improve your writing. I can’t tell you how valuable writer’s conferences are to an aspiring author in the beginning. So many hidden nuggets are revealed in these courses as well as meeting other writers who understand the fortitude we must have to keep writing quality content.

Join a critique group or get a writing partner.

When we write, the story plays out in our heads like a movie but sometimes we don’t communicate the concept on the page for other’s to understand. This is where a critique group or writing partner makes a huge difference.

Find 2-3 mentors.

These are people to ask questions. I like to have a writing mentor, a marketing mentor, and a police mentor to ask questions when I’m stuck with a particular concept.

Get a thick skin, FAST!

Rejections and bad reviews are part of the job. The sooner we understand this and move past the negativity, the better. We will be rejected on multiple occasions by multiple editors and multiple readers. The sooner we learn this lesson, the sooner we can move past our doubts and finish our stories.

Don’t just talk about writing but actually write.

Schedule time to write every day. We have to get our bums in the seat and put the words on the paper. That means other activities have to come second to our scheduled writing time.

Have a dedicated space or office to write.

Also, if you have a door to shut that keeps out the many distractions we authors fall prey to when we’re stare at a blinking cursor, then you’re on the right track.

Write for story, not publication.

An easy trap to fall into when we begin writing is the overwhelming desire to be published. This will lead to doubts and comparison when other authors get contracts or have multiple books published and you do not. When we realize we write because we love creating stories, then this is what will carry us through until our story is complete.

Be unique.

Your writing journey is yours and yours alone. We cannot compare ourselves to any other author. Some will write more books and some will write less. Some will get published and some won’t. When we walk the writing path God has called us to, then our writing will do more than just sit on a shelf. He will use your story to change souls.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Shannon is a Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and her greatest hope is for her stories to immerse readers into a world of suspense and escape while encouraging faith, hope, and love in Christ.  She has three books published by Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line–Cave of Secrets, Secrets Left Behind and Mistaken Mountain Abduction. She is also one of the Managing Editors of Acquisitions for Spark Flash Fiction Magazine, where she received her first official published byline. Shannon is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube
Agency.