By Heather Kreke @HKreke

You’ve decided to take your writing from a hobby to a professional level. That’s great, but where do you start?

Here are five steps to help you begin your journey.

1. Learn:

Most careers require you to take continuing classes, writing is no different. Read books and follow blogs about writing. Interact with other writers as much as you can on social media. Take the courses they offer on-line or in person whenever possible. Look into classes at your local community college.

Remember to learn about your industry in addition to your craft. Things change in the publishing world often. The topics that agents, editors, and publishers are looking for this year may be different than last. Just as with your fellow writers, look for classes offered by editors, agents, and publishers, interact with them on social media and follow their websites.

2. Work on your platform:

Start building your platform sooner rather than later. Create a website, blog, and professional social media pages. Agents and editors don’t want to see what you plan to do; they want to see what you are doing.

Post at least once a day on Facebook and two to three times a day on sites like Instagram and Twitter. Focus your platform on giving to your readers. What do they want to see? Follow the 80/20 rule. 80% what they want to see and 20% about you and your writing.

3. Attend conferences:

Attending a conference can be an invaluable experience. You’ll get the chance to take great classes offered by experts in the field. You’ll also meet other writers. Being around people who think like you can be a great boost to your confidence. Being at a conference may seem intimidating at first. With all of those professional, published writers, all of those agents, editors, and publishers it’s a lot to take in. However, you will find that the majority of people are there to help you, to answer your questions, and to offer you support. Talk to as many different people as you can, you never know who you might meet. But also be sure to take the time to actually learn something about the people you meet.

4. Find a mentor:

Finding a mentor can be a huge boost to your writing journey. A mentor doesn’t have to be an award winning author, just someone who is more experienced than you, who can help guide and keep you on task. Someone to bounce ideas off and to support your dreams. Someone to pray for you and to listen when you are discouraged.

5. Write:

Start writing. I know this one sounds easy and obvious, but you’d be amazed at the excuses you can find not to write. Carve out some time every day to get yourself into a chair and writing. Get up early if you have to, go to bed late, write during your lunch break. Form a routine, make it a habit to write at the same time every day. Set a goal for yourself. How many words or pages are you going to write per day? Even if it’s only twenty minutes a day, make sure you are writing something every single day.

While writing does take a lot of learning and work, remember to have fun with it. Writing is most likely your passion so let the words flow.