“There is no one path to authorship, as every writer’s journey is unique.”

Maybe you’ve always aspired to become the writer of your dreams and you are ready to share your story with the world and earn the title of an “author.”

There are thousands of people across the world who cherish the dream of writing a good book throughout their lives, but the dream stubbornly stays elusive. So, what is the secret formula that will help unlock your creativity and establish you as an author and make your dreams come true?

Writing a book might seem an uphill battle for some. You need to build your strength on a rock-solid foundation. This means achieving clarity on why you want to become the author of the book. Once you know what you want from your writing and have worked on your foundation, you’ll be able to write your book with intention and purpose.

Whether you’ve been an aspiring author since childhood or for the last five minutes, the below three steps will give you the knowledge and assist you on your journey from being a writer to an author.

Pick Your “Big Idea”

Educate yourself to become an author. The one thing you absolutely need in order to write a book is, of course, an idea. If you can’t think of that, you’ll never be able to get past the initial pages of your draft. You can gather your “super book idea” by asking yourself a few simple questions:what do I want to write about?

• what do I feel is important enough to capture in writing?
• who will want to read this sort of a story?

• will I be able to express this idea effectively?

If you find the answers to these questions, you would be able to shortlist your best options. Think about the kinds of books that have made a significant impact on you. You would then want to write a book in a similar fashion.

If you are still at odds and beating about the bush cracking your skull for a vision or an enlightening muse, resort to taking help from creative writing prompts; or even a plot generator might be able to save your situation. You might get that spark to kindle your creative spirits and muse and lend you your “super idea” for the book of your own.

Begin with the end (audience) in mind — address your audience’s needs

Do you dream to authoring that perfect book that will climb the charts of bestseller lists and make a headway into the maze of publishing? Well, this is pretty much the cardinal rule— you should always be thinking about your audience and trying to write “reader-first.” Choose the right character in order to keep up to your audience expectations. As a reader of this article, what questions would you like answered? If you have any, do a quick jotting down of the list of questions.

Trying to work on your strengths! Well, you need to know your strengths before that. Try asking people around you who can give you an objective and unbiased feedback. Reading from the genre of books that you think of writing is a good way to start learning how to write in that same genre yourself.

Find out what type of people will be reading your manuscript. Think about the purpose of your writing the book and what it can offer to the readers. Think of why someone would read your book! Market is super-competitive, so you need to shuffle your cards wisely. So don’t cut corners on the genre research because this will tell you where the bar is and how you can surpass it.

Many writers think that the key to have an extraordinary book in the shelf is to load it with a wide range of vocabulary, flamboyant sentences and metaphorical language. While style is great, substance is far more important when writing a book — hence why you should focus primarily on your plot, characters, conflict(s) and themes.

Read, review, edit, and rewrite

Once you have sketched down all your ideas:

• Read: Try reading after you write by putting yourself in the shoes of your target audience.
• Review: Get it reviewed by a friend, mentor or a colleague. This is highly beneficial.
• Edit and rewrite: Don’t deter yourself from editing your write-up repeatedly, but do not aim for perfection. Even if you write crap, it is always one step ahead and better than not writing at all. Finding a balance is important. Rewrite based on the initial feedback from the review. And when you are satisfied that you have made enough changes to call your writing your own, submit your post for publication.

So, are you ready to become an author?

Books are life changing, not just for the writer, but for the book readers all across the world who will learn from your story. Great books make the world go ‘round. As you learn how to become an author and evolve, one thing becomes clear, it’s a process that takes time, dedication and some serious effort. Writing is an endless journey. So, don’t wait, “Just Do It.”