Carmine

There is a path to fiction writing success that is quick and sure, even obvious. It's a path that's simple to explain. In fact, I'm going to explain it in this short article. And when I'm finished, most of you who read this will nod and say to yourselves, "I knew that." Then you'll move on without giving it another thought. And you won't do it.

And that will be a shame.

As with any profession, writing good fiction requires a learning curve. It begins with the very basics - the rules of proper grammar. From there, you'll want to learn all the aspects of storytelling. These can include everything from setting to character development, from dialogue to plot, and more. And when you become comfortable in your knowledge of storytelling, you'll want to learn about the business end of writing ... how to build your career, working with agents, what all those contract clauses mean, etc. Learning will be a life-long journey.

But if you learn all of the above, inside and out, even become an expert at it, it won't mean a thing toward writing successful fiction unless you do one more thing.

You know what it is, don't you?

Yes.

You have to write, and you have to write everyday.

It doesn't matter how knowledgeable or how talented you are. If you don't write regularly you'll never be successful. Having edited a newsletter, a small press magazine, and several anthologies, I can tell you from experience, it's not the most talented writers who succeed. It's the most persistent writers. The writers who work on their craft with a passion. Who pour their souls into their work.

And it's not how much time you have, it's the routine that matters. Writing success comes from placing your butt in the chair and putting words down on a piece of paper or your computer screen on a daily basis. It doesn't matter if you only have fifteen minutes a day, as long as you fill that time writing.

The best way to do this is to make an appointment with yourself, set a specific time everyday that's reserved for nothing but writing. It might be the first thing in the morning before the rest of the family wakes up. It might be during your lunch hour, or late at night after everyone else is in bed. It doesn't matter, as long as it's the same time everyday, and the only thing that happens is that you write.

By the way, researching isn't writing. Plotting isn't writing. Developing a character isn't writing. Those are all important aspect of developing good stories, and they need to be done, but they are not writing. Don't let them get in the way. It's easy to get caught up in all the details of your story without ever actually putting a word on paper.

So there you have it.

The quickest, surest path to fiction writing success.

Write everyday.

Sounds easy, doesn't it?

And you already knew it, didn't you?

So now the question is this: what are you going to do about it?

David B. Silva is the author of numerous short stories and novels. Currently, he serves as the webmaster for The Successful Writer, a website designed to provide writing information and resources for new and upcoming writers.