Granddaughter wants to be a Writer. What advice do you give?

Granddaughter loves to read and write and thinks everything in the world is funny and all people stupid but loveable. I was hoping for an Accountant like her Grandmom and Mom.





If you ever made money off writing, what advice would you give her. She is off to college in September, buts wants to be published before she gets there.Granddaughter wants to be a Writer. What advice do you give?
Getting published is hard but their are some paths she can take in college to ensure a career in writing.





I never understood why people don't think that writers make money. Who do you think they pay to write instruction manuals, advertisements, websites, and any other printed or electronic document you encounter in your daily life? A WRITER!





It may not be her dream, but this how many of us writers make our money and pay our bills.





I am an English major at Georgia State University. My concentration is Rhetoric and Composition which prepares students in my field to become technical and professional writers. We write anything from business documents to grant proposals to children's books.





To encourage her, remind her that writing is not always a glorious profession. We're not all huddled in our home libraries conjuring up the latest idea for a next bestseller. Many of us become professional or technical writers for corporations or manufactures. Our spare time is when we truly let our creativity flow. And a lucky few of us will have some of that creativity land on the shelf of a local bookstore.





From now and forever she should continue to read and write. The best way to begin getting published is to submit articles or stories to journals. Their are thousands out their and many are scams so it s going to take a bit of research to find the one that right for publishing her work.





Majoring in English can prepare her for a career in:





Professional Writing


Technical Writing


Editing


Publishing


Grant Writing


Journalism


Document Design


Rhetorical Research


TeachingGranddaughter wants to be a Writer. What advice do you give?
Writing is a demanding business. She needs to understand that, and if she's going to pursue that, she definitely needs to be prepared. There is a lot of competition and she needs a good agent. While going through the long publishing process, she should get a different job, to keep in the background, you know sort of a back up. Many times, authors get turned down, especially their first time. If she really aspires to have her books on the shelves, tell her to keep writing.








I wish her good luck(:
Well, then, I hope she's already written a book. Short of that, she won't get it published before she gets there, sorry.





But what she needs to do is write every day. When she's got a work finished, she can send off a query letter to agents, who'll either reject her or accept her and help her get it published.





Oh, and for the person who said that writing is a hobby? Clearly you're not experienced. Writing can be one of the most profitable careers out there, particularly in today's day and age.





Help? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;鈥?/a>
Just support her as much as you can:)


Tell her to do something for her education, writing is a hobby, not really anything you can live off of.
Just tell her to keep at it... try to get her work out there, and maybe start out writing for a newspaper/magazine if she wants to make money right away.
She needs to read and write. OFTEN! The best way to learn your craft is to study those who perfected it before you. I learned most of what I know about writing simply from reading well written books and practicing writing. Also practice makes perfect. If there is somewhere for you to take classes then do. She can major in English or Creative writing with the latter being the most influential in order to sharpen your skills. Or if the schhol allows she can take creative writing as an elective. Mind you, colleges that teach creative writing don't teach you how to write commercial fiction. These are your Harry Potters, Twilights, Clicks, or any mainstream novel. Instead they teach literary fiction which are the books she might consider boring. Books by people like, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and others. Don't get me wrong, creative writing programs are great. I'm in one now. The techniques they teach you are literary in nature but can help you when writing stronger commercial fiction. And who knows she might find hersel more inclined to writing literary commercial fiction like J.R.R Tolkien and C.S.Lewis. Good luck and practice practice PRACTICE!!!


Now getting published is another thing entirely.





Don't want to crush any hopes but it might not be possible to be published before she reaches college simply because its a long and tedious process even after finding an agent.





Getting a book published is a long process that may very well take years.





Starting by actually writing the book. Ignore the logistics of getting published until you are done. You might put together a great marketing plan but all that will come to a grinding halt when you realize that you have nothing to market.





1. The first thing to do is to completely finish your book. When I say completely I mean having edited it within an inch of its life, having someone else edit it, and then edit it again. Make sure the book is the best that it can be. If you don't feel up to the task of editing then there are companies that will. Mind you, these companies are expensive. It cost about $1000 dollars to have the average 50,000 word book edited. Also, as a writer it is in your best interest to learn how to edit your own work.





2. Do the research on how to write a query letter. This is the hardest part because you have to take a 50,000 word or more book and sell it in one page. Do no skimp on this part because it is what gets you through the door. The very first thing literary agents see is your query letter. No matter how brilliant your book is, if you bomb the query letter then you will be rejected. Also, research how to write a synopsis since literary agents may also request that and an outline.





3. Decide what genre you're book is. Research the different genres and match your book to the best one. Be as accurate as possible because agencies tend to only represent certain genres and you don't want to submit your adult thriller novel to an agent that represents children's literature. This is another sure fire way to be rejected.





4. Research different literary agents. My suggestion is to use Writer's Market. Narrow down your list to agencies that are, I. accepting new submissions and II. represent your specific genre. Once you have done this read each agencies submission guidelines carefully. Don't assume that all guidelines are the same. They are not. The guidelines vary from agency to agency. Many agencies have several agents and ask that you only submit to one. Query the agent that represents your genre.





5. Submit your novel according to the guidelines and prepare to wait. It may take months to hear a response from an agency. Once you are signed with agency they will do the work of finding you a publisher (here comes another part of publishing, developing your writing platform*). The time from agency signing to actually publishing can take about a year, give or take.





Do's: Finish and edit your novel, research each agency thoroughly, follow the submissions guideline thoroughly, perfect your query letter and synopsis, be patient





Don'ts: Keep calling the agency to see if they received your query, send your manuscript unless they request it or unless the submission guidelines SAY its okay, pay money upfront to any agent or publisher





Wish her good luck!!





Hope this helps not a published writer, yet, but I've done my research and she should too.