Author Julie Buxbaum’s Top Five Tips on How to Become a Writer

So you want to become a writer? Of course you do! That’s why you’re here. The question is, HOW?! New York Times bestselling author Julie Buxbaum is letting us in on her five secret tips.

1. Read everything you can get your hands on, in every genre imaginable, including but not limited to books, the backs of cereal boxes, movie posters, and the fine print. Words are your friends. Collect them as such.

2. Read like a writer, not like a reader. That means read critically, slowly, carefully. Do not simply marinate in good work, but step back and pretend you are peering over the writer’s shoulder. If something is working for you, figure out why. Conversely, when it’s not, figure out why. If you love a character, investigate how a writer manipulated you into falling for them. When you aren’t taken with a plot, dissect the exact moment the author lost you.

3. Self-identify as a writer long before you are published. I was just as good a writer the day before I got my first book deal as I was the day after. Calling yourself a writer gives you the space and permission to make writing a priority in your life.

4. Sit down on your tuchus (or if you are one of those standing desk types, bless you, go forth and stand) and start writing. Then revise. Write some more. Revise again.

5. Repeat 1 to 4, but particularly number 4, ad infinitum.