Get Started!

So many readers are also trying to become writers that I want to cheer you along, give you tips, and help that dream materialize.
Some time ago I read that the biggest secret wish of a sampling of women was to write a novel.
So here's step one: Stop keeping it a secret. We're on the brink of a New Year, and this can be your first resolution. Share the goal with some close friends or relatives. No, don't tell them the whole story of your book, just the fact that you want to write one.
Studies show that the act of sharing a goal with another person already increases its chances of happening. Now that someone else knows your dream, it's as if they're holding you to it. You have to make progress because, occasionally, they'll say, "How's that book coming along?" and you'll have to answer, "I'm still outlining," or "I'm on Chapter Three," or whatever. But at least you will be doing SOMETHING, not just thinking about it.
You've probably noticed in my bio that I've written 20 books. Guess what the real number is? Probaby 35. And a dozen screenplays that have never made it all the way to production. Some sell, some don't. The point is to write, not to think about selling your work. Do I hope those others sell at some point? Of course. But either way, I'm glad I've written them.
What if you never sell a single thing? Doesn't matter. Anyone who writes JUST TO SELL is not as good a writer as they would be if they wrote from their heart, to tell a story.
And if you never sell anything, writing is still therapeutic. Do quilters sell all their quilts? Any of their quilts? Do they care? Stitch together your story, make a masterpiece, and then curl up with some hot chocolate and a good book (yours) and bask in a job well done.