About becoming a writer…
By A. Gavazzoni – author of Behind The Door and Lara’s Journal
How did I become a writer? Well…many things combined to make me decide to write fiction. I’m going to tell you how I became a writer, and then maybe you will see you can be one, too, if that is your dream…
First, I love to read.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved to read. I’ve always loved a good story. I strongly believe if you are an avid reader, you are going to be a good writer. The reason is simple: if you love the world of ideas and imagination, you can also imagine and create. To me, books are always like taking a magical journey. I can’t imagine my life without all the stories I’ve read— they amused me, taught me a lot, and sometimes even helped me to make it through times in my life when I was alone and sad.
Second, I love words.
I love words. I love phrases. I love the combination of words that make up wonderful ideas… thoughts and expressions that can sometimes last forever, repeated over and over throughout many generations.
Third, I feel alive when I write.
When I write, I feel I’m deep inside the story. I cry, laugh, love and hate right along with the characters my imagination produces. For me, writing is about feeling the emotions you describe and, hopefully, making others feel those same emotions when they read my books.
Fourth, I believed I could.
I’m a lawyer—my career has always consisted of telling stories to judges… I’m a professional story-teller. So I decided to create my own stories instead of just repeating other people’s tales. Of course, I worried, at first—would anyone want to read my books? I wasn’t sure, but if I didn’t try, I knew I would never find out!
Fifth, I never gave up.
I wrote my first novel in six months. When I decided I would write, when I began to come up with the idea for a plot and characters, I created a routine. I set a goal to write at least 1,000 words a day. Some days, my professional life didn’t allow me to fulfill that promise, but at the end of six months, I had written my first novel. It took me one year to find a publisher. I received countless rejections—sometimes within thirty minutes of submitting the manuscript! “You are not for us,” they said. Dealing with those negative responses wasn’t easy, but I never gave up…After all…even George Orwell was rejected… I knew it was only a matter of my story falling into the right hands, and finally, one day, I got THE E-MAIL. A great editor wrote to tell me she liked my story, and she would recommend me for a contract… Sweet words that nearly made my heart stop!
We writers are dreamers… Let us dream, and with our words bring color to the world.
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