Creative Writing: How to Start Small
Everyone has to start somewhere and very few of us can come up with a best-selling novel at our first attempt. A long piece of work can seem daunting to a beginner so why not try the ‘small beginnings’ method.
This is the quickest way to see you work in print. The rewards can be good and a result can send your confidence soaring.
Check out the women’s magazines, the newspapers and your favourite magazines. Most will have a letters page and this is your opening into the world of becoming a published writer.
Wait! Don’t rush off to write one. There’s work to be done first. Choose a publication and read all the letters. Is the style chatty, serious, informative? Count the words in the longest and shortest letters. Yours will need to be somewhere in-between the two.
Now write your letter exactly as it comes to you. Don’t hesitate. Get the words down and then check the word count. Next, cut and keep cutting out words until you haven’t a single one to spare. Then it is ready to send off, but wait! Do you have a photo to go with it? Magazines love pictures.
When sending your photo make sure you stick to the magazine’s requirements. These may involve giving your age, address, email, phone number. Letters may have to travel snail-mail or could be emailed.
Once you are certain that you have produced a mini-masterpiece, send it off. Don’t sit and wait to hear its fate. Get on with another. Some writers set themselves a target and produce a certain number of letters a month.
Being successful in a small way, such as seeing a letter in print, can be the first rung on your ladder to success.
This content was provided by one of our users, Lynne
