I receive e-mails from wannabe writers almost on a daily basis. “I want to be a writer. Can you help me?” These people are usually coming to me for contacts and advice on how to make money, but I’ve always believed that writing is more than a vocation, a job. It is a way of life.

Every successful writer I know does the following. No exceptions. It doesn’t matter if you write fiction or non-fiction, it doesn’t matter if you write for love or money, it doesn’t matter if writing is your job or your hobby. If you want to live the life of a writer, these are promises you must make to yourself NOW. Follow through. The great thing about being a writer is that you’re responsible to no one but yourself. But the worst thing about being a writer is also that you’re responsible to no one but yourself.
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1. Butt in chair, one thousand words a day. You’re allowed to write crap. You’re encouraged to write crap. Editing comes later, revisions come later. The first draft needs to be nothing more than a random conglomeration of words on paper/computer screen. Maybe you’ll find gems, maybe you’ll throw it all away. It doesn’t matter. Just keep writing.

2. You will read every day. Without exception. Even if it’s five minutes before bed. Even if it’s just the newspaper. Read. Every single day.

3. You will not ask friends, family or partners for feedback. People who love you are simply not capable of giving you real feedback. They will either discourage you or describe you as a genius. Trust me, you don’t want to believe either. Join critique groups, ask editors and agents for guidance, and find beta readers in other writers. Friends and family are for unconditional support. Don’t go to them for professional advice.

4. You will associate with like-minded artists. Don’t be exclusive to writers. I hang out with designers, photographers, painters, and others in varied creative arts, and learn from them daily. A photographer friend says he now views the world in frames. It’s a limited view, I tell him. Yet, when I want to describe the curve of a child’s lips as she smiles, this limited frame is what I turn to. A painter’s love for her brushes, the right canvas, the perfect setting makes me experiment with my own workspace. People in different arts will help you explore the world through all your senses.

5. You will pamper yourself. Splurge on handmade journals, sharpies, crayons, stickers, books, funky notepads, and whatever else that makes you feel more creative. Last year I bought myself little post-it notes in every color I could find, put little quotes on them and stuck them all around my workspace. They made the process of creating fun. Be a child when you can.

6. You will take risks. You will experiment. You will explore parts of you, parts of your life, that you fear. You will be brutally honest with yourself. You will constantly strive to do a little bit better. Don’t compete with others. Just aim to be better today than you were yesterday.

7. You will pay attention to the small details. You will find joy in the little things. You will stay up all night and watch the moonlight peeking through the clouds. You will get up early and admire the dew drops on blades of grass. You will trace the shape of your lover’s hand. You will buy body paint and treat his body as canvas. You will, even when it makes you cry, read old love letters and feel the texture of the old paper in your hands and relive old memories. You will pay attention to the world around you. And you will write about it.

8. You will experiment with other arts. Very few people know that I used to enjoy painting, and in fact, had two canvas paintings exhibited when I was in high school. One of them still hangs in the school library. Almost every creative professional I talk to has another creative outlet. Several draw or paint, one loves to design homes, another plays the guitar. If writing is your profession, find another creative outlet that isn’t.

9. You will ask for help. And when you’re able, you’ll pass it forward several times over.

10. You will be true. To your work, to your readers, to the people in your life who believe in you. But first and foremost, you will be true to yourself. A dishonest person cannot create honest work. Period. Treat people well. Of the gazillion people on this planet, you’d be lucky to get one or two who will truly believe in what you do. Don’t reward them with dishonesty and disrespect.