Removing some weight from my shoulders😅

[Bick vire]

Hiii guys first of all this is not a big question or any thing like....
I'm just posting what was there in my mind for long time....
It's like removing some weight from my shoulders
So here it is
Can any person become an author if they want? Or only chosen few can become like us
I'm just starting so I don't know that author is actually a special person or not...
This matter always bugs me that I'm a good or just normal....?
What exactly am I anyway....?
Can anyone write stories like me if they want...?
Is my ideas to write a stories about that were their in my mind and make it like a novel etc. Is good Or not...

Note : don't worry guys I'm not giving up

 

[pmmg]

I do believe anyone can become a skilled and successful author, but also that some come to it with a greater degree of talent than others. And some who make the efforts have a big hole to overcome before they can get notice.

Some I think begin with a type of anti-talent, where their writing gets worse the more they try.

I would say, with time, they could make it too, but there are probably better ambitions for them.

I notice you are using a lot of loaded words in there, BV, Not all of us are going to make it. Some are just spinning their wheels. I could be one of them

 

[Bick vire]

I notice you are using a lot of loaded words in there, BV, Not all of us are going to make it. Some are just spinning their wheels. I could be one of them

What did you ment by Loaded words....?
Is my english bad....?
I hope that it's not and u ment something else

 

[Prince of Spires]

The definitions I stick with are:
writer: someone who writes stories
author: someone who publishes stories he has written

Small difference between them, but significant enough to mention it.

To answer your question: yes, anyone can be an author (and anyone can be a writer).

Being a writer is relatively easy. The moment you sit down and type a story, you can consider yourself a writer. No limits. My 8 year old daughter likes writing little stories about her stuffed animals and her pet rabbit. That makes her a writer if she wants to call herself one. It counts. There are no formal rules about how much you need to write or what kinds of stories or whatever.

As for being an author, with indie-publishing (or self-publishing), there are no gatekeepers anymore who determine who gets published and who doesn't. Anyone can create an Amazon or Draft2Digital account (well, anyone over 18 I think), and then publishing is simply a matter of uploading your manuscript, clicking a few buttons and you are an author.

One thing to keep in mind though is that just because you published a book, doesn't mean that people have to buy it. Many books end up not selling anything. That doesn't mean you're not an author. It just means you're not making any money...

 

[Devor]

Can any person become an author if they want? Or only chosen few can become like us

It takes a few special qualities to become a good author...

....if anyone knows what they are please let me know, too.

 

[pmmg]

I am finally, 100% unequivocally at this time prepared to say, I am not a Devor.

 

[pmmg]

What did you ment by Loaded words....?
Is my english bad....?
I hope that it's not and u ment something else

I was just noticing that you were including all of us in the chosen few.

It might be too subtle for a non-english type. But I would state here, and it is not with any joy, but if english is not your first language, and you struggle with it, there is almost zero chance you will be able to write a novel in english in a way that English not being your native language will not show. I am sorry about that, but it is a difficult hurdle to over come.

 

[Bick vire]

I was just noticing that you were including all of us in the chosen few.

It might be too subtle for a non-english type. But I would state here, and it is not with any joy, but if english is not your first language, and you struggle with it, there is almost zero chance you will be able to write a novel in english in a way that English not being your native language will not show. I am sorry about that, but it is a difficult hurdle to over come.

Well I said all of us because this is similar to a group wher every author/writer gathers and discuss about their stories and their issues with it etc...
At least that's what I thought...
If I'm wrong u can just say that I'm wrong

And yes english is not my native language but I haven't struggled with that until now....

 

[Bick vire]

To answer your question: yes, anyone can be an author (and anyone can be a writer).

Being a writer is relatively easy. The moment you sit down and type a story, you can consider yourself a writer. No limits. My 8 year old daughter likes writing little stories about her stuffed animals and her pet rabbit. That makes her a writer if she wants to call herself one. It counts. There are no formal rules about how much you need to write or what kinds of stories or whatever.

First of all your example about your daughter was great. I haven't thought something like that about the writer...
Now my perspective about the writer/author has changed a little bit..
I think that it changed for the better...

 

[pmmg]

Well I said all of us because this is similar to a group wher every author/writer gathers and discuss about their stories and their issues with it etc...
At least that's what I thought...
If I'm wrong u can just say that I'm wrong

And yes english is not my native language but I haven't struggled with that until now....

I am not sure every one here is actually writing anything. Many people come for their own reasons. Some stay a long time. Some write a lot of stories, and some linger and not much gets written. I am always dubious of any statement that lumps all of everything into a category.

 

[pmmg]

I hate to say, but I can tell English is not your first language.

It's not terrible, but it would not pass for a native.

 

[Bick vire]

I hate to say, but I can tell English is not your first language.

It's not terrible, but it would not pass for a native.

Well it's not my first language

I think that it's not tooo bad
But from now on I'll try a little bit to more to improve...

And how can I know that I improved at english anyway...?

 

[skip.knox]

Can any person become an author if they want? Or only chosen few can become like us
I'm just starting so I don't know that author is actually a special person or not...
This matter always bugs me that I'm a good or just normal....?
What exactly am I anyway....?
Can anyone write stories like me if they want...?
Is my ideas to write a stories about that were their in my mind and make it like a novel etc. Is good Or not...

Note : don't worry guys I'm not giving up

Devor's reply is correct. A writer writes. And author is a writer who has been published.
The line used to be clear because the only published authors were the ones who had physical books produced by a publishing house. Nowadays, though, anyone can be published because anyone can self-publish, so that line is unclear to the point of disappearing.

You might ask yourself a follow-up question. Let's say you've written a story and you have it ready for self-publication. Let's assume no one buys even one copy, or at least no one outside your family and friends. Would you be satisfied with that? You're an author because you're published, but is that really the point? Is that your real goal? There are a hundred more questions that will follow after that, but maybe just think about this first one.

What am I exactly? I've always resisted answering that for myself. Maybe it's not important? You could consider that. You write, maybe you publish, but I bet you do other things as well. I always argued that if I was something, anything, exactly then I would no longer be able to grow and change. I'd be just that one thing.

Anyone can write stories. No one can write stories like you. Also, wanting to write stories isn't enough. It takes work.

"Is my ideas to write..." I can't make that sentence make sense. Sorry.

 

[skip.knox]

And how can I know that I improved at english anyway...?

One very modest way would be to use a spellchecker and a grammar checker. They'll tell you when you got something wrong. Alas, they do not tell you *everything* you got wrong. Nor do they tell you how to fix it. But if you do it for a couple of years, you might find some improvements.

It's worth mentioning a couple other things. One, *all* of us can improve our English. That is a life's work.

Two, just because you're not a native-speaker doesn't mean much in itself. There are many native-speakers who write badly. Conversely, there are non-native speakers who have written marvelous books. Joseph Conrad is the example I usually use. He was born Polish and did not learn English until he was in his 20s, yet all his novels are written in English. And they are brilliant.

 

[Bick vire]

You might ask yourself a follow-up question. Let's say you've written a story and you have it ready for self-publication. Let's assume no one buys even one copy, or at least no one outside your family and friends. Would you be satisfied with that? You're an author because you're published, but is that really the point? Is that your real goal? There are a hundred more questions that will follow after that, but maybe just think about this first one.

What am I exactly? I've always resisted answering that for myself. Maybe it's not important? You could consider that. You write, maybe you publish, but I bet you do other things as well. I always argued that if I was something, anything, exactly then I would no longer be able to grow and change. I'd be just that one thing.

Anyone can write stories. No one can write stories like you. Also, wanting to write stories isn't enough. It takes work.

"Is my ideas to write..." I can't make that sentence make sense. Sorry.

Yes I did ask myself something similar. And my end goal is not to write a novel.... It's totally different writing a novel is like a first step for me....

And what am I exactly? I'm still searching for the answer. I hope I find the answer soon.

I really appreciate your thought when you said no one can write stories like you. And yes just wanting to write stories is not enough. It definitely takes a lot of effort...

And yes the last sentence doesn't make much sense for me too I posted it without thinking much of it..
Here let me fix it : Is my idea to write stories that pop up in my mind, and make them into a novel, a good one?

 

[Incanus]

Hang in there, Bick Vire!

I'm going to say having doubts about your own abilities is probably pretty healthy--unless it is taken too far. It means you recognize you can get better at this craft, if you work at it.

I think I would be more concerned about a newer writer who expresses a great deal of confidence while producing only mediocre or poor work. Such a writer will probably not strive to do better, and will likely not improve, or not improve very much. I've seen this before.

A good idea might be to push yourself to do better, but to manage your expectations, and try not to get overwhelmed.

And by the way, you have a really cool sounding name-----

 

[Diana Silver]

Everyone can become a writer. It just takes a lot of practice. Take it step by step and don't give up

 

[Devor]

For a more serious answer…

Publishing a novel is an extremely competitive industry. Most books don’t sell, most of the advice you’ll hear is cliche, and what makes a story stand out is incredibly hard to put your finger on. It takes a lot of work to write a decent book, go through rounds of editing and get it published, and it’s painful to then watch it fail to find an audience. This is not for everyone.

Having said that, anyone can put together a book that’s good enough to be proud of, even if it might not do well on the market. That is, if you are willing to learn, willing to put in the work, willing to think through the challenges of your story, and willing to put yourself out there. Each of those are harder than they sound.

Now there’s two sides to a novel you need to work on simultaneously. That’s your storytelling skills and your writing skills.

On the first side of things you need to read a little about story structure - there’s a dozen variations of the same basic framework. Any one from a number of how-to guides will get you there. You can even look at some infographics on goggle. Some genres like romance or thriller are more rigid than others, so understand that too. Then start writing bad 10-ish-sentence story outlines, one sentence for each plot point. Do a bunch of them, whatever garbage story you can think of, until you understand how to put together a plot. Keep going, until you really get your head around the fact that the heart of a story is about your character’s growth through your specific conflict. You also want to focus on pushing and twisting and exploring your ideas this way.

The second side is to begin writing actual scenes. Don’t just write whatever, write actual scenes in which a character has a goal and acts on it (anything, really: the goal can be finding info, the action can be asking questions…). Write a bunch of them, figure out where your weak points are, and then write more with a focus on improving those weak points - run them by other people if you aren’t sure.

Then, when you feel ready, put the two sides together and write a book. But don’t ever lose that focus on improvement.

I can’t speak too much for using English as a second language. An old member used to say “writing clearly means thinking clearly.” You can skip the wordplay techniques, focus on expressing clear thoughts with your writing, and lean on good crit readers and editors.

Do all that, and I believe that eventually you’ll get there.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Devor's advice is golden, and a great way (though surely not the only) to approach it.

I'll add 2 things. First, it's definitely possible to write in a second language. I do (I'm Dutch...). You do however need to know the language you're writing in well before you can. Writing is hard enough as it is. If you have to constantly think about sentence structure and word choice while you write because it's not your first language, then it's probably better to stick to your first language (while you work on your English so you can try later).

And once you get good enough, the hardest thing actually becomes judging the cultural value of words (I don't have a better term, sorry...). What I mean with that is that words carry a cultural weight that's not reflected in their dictionary definition. It's most obvious in swear words. I know a fair few of them, but I don't feel how bad they are because I haven't been taught that. I only know what they mean. And this goes for a lot of terms. It's definitely something to be aware of.

The second thing is that the more I write, the more I find that story structure is actually the hardest bit to get right, and the most important. Showing character growth, giving them depth, having a satisfying journey and conclusion, are a lot harder (for me) to get perfect than writing a single scene. It's what separates good and great writers, and it's why sometimes a novel can start to feel boring halfway through even though the writing reads just fine.

 

[xena]

I think anyone who truly wants to can become an author. It’s more about passion and persistence than being chosen.

Can anyone write stories like me if they want...?

Sure, others can write stories too, but your version will always be different and that’s what makes it yours.