The 3 steps to being a great writer

I was having a mentoring session with a young writer recently. They were getting very discouraged that they had come up with a great story idea, but it just wasn’t coming out the way they wanted.

I asked if they had completed my three steps of being a great writer (because I think there are just 3 steps to being a great writer).

What are those steps you ask? How do they point you in the right direction of being a great writer?

Step 1: Read A LOT

The first step is to read a lot. Because the first thing is that every good writer reads. And reads A LOT. I’m talking about 50+ books a year. And these need to be mostly literature, not just ‘big summer reads’.

When you read, and read and read and read, what you’re doing is building your muscle memory. You’re learning what makes a great story. About how grammar and sentences work. About character development. About narrative description. You’re not consciously doing this – but just by reading and reading and reading, it’s happening.

I liken it to a formula one racing car driver. Through years of racing, they build up a muscle memory of how to corner, how to overtake, how to handle the car. If you asked them how they drove around a lap, they couldn’t tell you. They are making decisions in micro-seconds, based on their experience. And I think that’s the same for writing. You need to read to build the foundation.

And while almost without exception, good writers read a lot – people I’ve met who really can’t write (I’m talking really bad writing that makes something inside you curl up and die as you read it), don’t read very much. I don’t know why they think they can write if they don’t even enjoy reading!!

Step 2: Do some training

When you learn anything, you need to know some basics first. We think with writing you don’t, because you can just pick up a pen and write. And for many years, I thought that if you were a good writer you would just know how to do it. Then I studied creative writing at Auckland University and realised that there was a lot I didn’t know, and a lot that would have been very useful to know.

Don’t assume just because you can write something, you shouldn’t do any training. You can teach yourself guitar, but if you don’t understand music and how guitars work, you’ll probably always be stuck at beginner level. If you teach yourself to drive a car but don’t know any road rules, you’re likely to crash.

So step 2 is to do some writing training. There are a huge amount of options out there. Online courses, master classes by authors, blogs, workshops, writing retreats. And of course when Writing Bites is published, reading that is completing some training!

Step 3: Write A LOT

I am amazed at people who think the first thing they write should be published. It would be like you take some guitar lessons, managing to play one song and then wanting to record it and put a record out!! Or taking lessons to drive a car. You pass your test and then instantly want to compete as a formula 1 driver.

To be good at playing guitar or being a race car driver, once you’ve learned the basics you have to practice! It’s the same with writing!

I wrote my first novel when I was 14. It’s wasn’t very good. In my teens and twenties I went on to write about 7 novels and maybe 50 short stories and novellas – just as practice. Just for the joy of writing and telling a story. Only then did I get to the point of writing something that I thought was good enough to be published. And when I sent it into HarperCollins they thought it was good enough too.

I saw a post from someone who said they wrote their first novel and published it, and now they hate it. They asked is this normal?

The issue is that they published it. Your first novel shouldn’t be published. If you grow as a writer then the first thing you write should be something only you see.

In 2018 Ava Jae did a Twitter poll about how many books authors wrote before they were published. 83.8% of respondents said that they’d written at least one novel before writing their debut. The most common answer was one (so their debut was the second book), followed very closely by three (their debut was fourth). The average was 3.24 books written before debuting.

I’m not trying to put you off. But if you want to be a good writer, then you have to write. And write and write. And then, and only then, is it likely you’ll be write something that is ready to be published.

So back to my mentoring session.

We went through the 3 steps of being a great writer.

My mentee had read a lot of books. Step 1 done. They had done some training. Step 2 complete. And then we got to step 3. I asked them how much they had written. How many novels, stories, articles, journal entries, blogs? How many hours had they put into practicing writing?

The answer was not much. Not much at all.

They realised they needed to try writing the story and then writing another and another, and only then would their writing improve.

So that’s it. That’s my 3 easy steps to being a great writer. I’d love to hear what you think. Where are you at on your writing journey? Have you completed all three steps and are ready to write something for possible publication? Or are you going to spend a bit more time on one of the 3 steps before that happens?