Beginning Approach In Becoming A Writer

The advice I am providing is a combination of things I was instructed to do via other writers, magazine articles, interviews, and from personal experiences.
Study the publishing industry. Find out how the business works and the methods you can use to break in. Who are the agents? Editors? Publishing Houses (major conglomerates and small press)? Imprints? And find out how they want to be approached and stick to that. Refer to yearly publications such as Writer's Market, Novel and Short Story Writer's Market, Guide to Literary Agents, Writers Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, Writer's Market FAQ's, and other similar books. These books are fairly expensive but you do not have to buy the brand new versions. Go to your local library or Half.com to purchase old versions so you may obtain basic information. You will need to refer to the most current editions, however, if you want to get the names of agents, etc.
Go where the writers are. Attend local book signings and be sure to ask questions. Try to go to at least one major writing conference per year. These events will help answer your questions and will put you in contact with authors, agents, editors, and other key industry people. Networking is important and may lead to an open door. One of the best industry conferences is Book Expo America. There's also RAWSISTAZ Literary Affair, Baltimore Book Festival, and the Harlem Book Fair.
Take creative writing classes, practice writing as much as possible, learn the elements of fiction and what constitutes a novel. Try to feel comfortable writing and learn the gist of what it takes to produce a quality story. You may enroll in on-line courses, classes at a local community college/university, or you may refer to a number of textbooks or other writing references. One of the best and most popular text books on the market is called Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway. And when writing your story don't forget to include your unique twist, voice, or view point. Don't be afraid to be different and carve out your own niche. The industry already has a Terry McMillan; if you think that you write just like her, then why would the industry need you? Try to be the best writer and most unique writer that you can be.
Read, read, and read again. In order to know how to write a novel, you should read an abundance of novels. Read the classics (Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Marita Golden). Read the genre in which you're most interested and get a strong feel for what must be included in that type of story. Read lots of non-fiction and get acquainted with a dictionary and thesaurus, and read short stories. And it's a good idea to read lots of well-written books. It is true that good writing habits can rub off on you, but reading someone's bad writing may affect you too.
Subscribe to trade industry magazines. Publishers Weekly is critical - it tells you which novels are going to be released, by who and when; it tells you about the most recent deals, the industry trends, how many books John Grisham has sold, and who is on the best seller list. There's also Writers Digest, Black Images Book Review, Quarterly Black Review, The Writer, Poets and Writers, Booking Matters Magazine, and an abundance of other genre-based magazines.
Rewriting is gonna be your best friend. It's not enough to finish the first draft of a novel. You have to go back, line by line, and edit, delete words, or add more appropriate words. You have to clarify what you mean, strengthen your characters, kill off unneeded characters, omit repetitive or unnecessary detail, show character emotions (as opposed to tell), check and re-check facts, make sure you have a climax, and ask yourself if there's conflict happening in every chapter, plus a whole lot of other things. You have to review your story from the eyes of a reader and try to look for details that might not be obvious, yet they're important. Let a trusted friend read some of your material, if not the whole book, and you have to be able to take constructive criticism. And don't be afraid to take as much time as you need to do the work. Try not to rush the book; let the process take its course.
Learn to sacrifice. I knew I was serious when I started giving up both personal time and money. Turn off the television, go to bed late, get up early, abandon the time-wasteful activities that you could be using to write, rewrite, research, or study the industry. You're going to get out of your career whatever you're willing to put into it. The sacrifices are difficult in the beginning, but will be worth it down the road.
Find a mentor. I'd never formally ask anyone to mentor me; instead, I believe that mentoring just kind of naturally happens. Find another writer (new or established), and if there is a natural connection, that person can serve as a mentor. You should feel comfy going to someone and asking questions, and they should be patient with you and willing to answer. If the relationship is a struggle, if they're hard to get in touch with or ignore you, try to find someone else. Mentors can provide guidance and keep you from making critical mistakes. You can also be privileged to find a new friend.
Develop a spiritual foundation. If you believe in God and in purpose and destiny, pray about everything; from your future agent and editor, to your book cover, to your travel itinerary, to your contract, put all these details in God's hand; listen to him direct you, and thank him when he starts answering your prayers.
Last but not least, do not give up. Every single published writer traveled a unique path to get where he is. It may take a year, it may take five or ten years, but no matter how long it takes, be positive and try not to become discouraged. If you make mistakes and fall down, rise to your feet, wipe the dust off your hands, and try again. Learn from your errors, but don't let them stop you. Support other writers and other writers may support you. And, as author Kimberla Lawson Roby says, "Believe in God, believe in yourself, and believe in your writing."

Book Synopsis

After months of steamy cybersex, John Roberts (a.k.a.Mocha Man) and Tia Banks (a.k.a. Executive Chick) finally agree to meet. John makes plans for them to spend a week of fun in the Bahamas. Even though they’re both married with children, they risk everything for one week of indiscretion. For moral support, John invites his friend Steve Marley and Tia asks her friend Sasha Moore to join them on the trip. Sasha meets a man to fulfill her sexual fantasies with no feelings attached. Steve meets a woman and is in for a shock when she reveals secrets from her past that could change his life forever. After a number of titillating sexcapades, everyone is left with questions. Will Tia and John’s marriages come to an end? Or will they have a future together? Will Sasha find happiness with a wonderful man or will she continue to hide her true feelings? Will Steve receive the answer to his prayer; or will he regret sleeping with a woman because of lust? Enter the world of Indiscretions of the Heart—find out what happens when adults leave cybersex behind, and engage in the real thing.

Internet Love Story

One night, I was just flirting around with a friend in a chat club (yes, one fear had been overcome), not paying too much attention to the other conversations, when someone else started directing questions my way. After not noticing her first few questions, she SCREAMED one at me. I think we all know how it is.....those damn caps lock always made us look and read! The friend I had gone to the chat club with originally decided to call it a night, world time zones had intervened, so I quickly scrolled back to read and answer this "new" person's questions. It was so strange reading those questions, they were so familiar......so me??? It was soon established that she was from my country, although from another state, we just clicked.
I think we spoke for about 4hrs that first night, but it seemed like only a few minutes, time flies when you're having fun......as they say. We soon formed a close friendship where we talked about everything without any fears or reservations. Weeks went by and we never ran out of things to say to each other, my heart strings were playing the most beautiful melodic tunes you can imagine.
Neither one of us having cybersex before, we just embraced each other and fell lovingly onto our cyber-bed letting this moment sweep us on a wave of passion. The fireworks we created that night lasted until the well after the midnight oil burned up. It was certainly a night that both of us would not forget, it was truly wonderful. It also propelled us to wanting to create the scenario in real life!
Christmas was soon upon us and being in different states and having family commitments, both of us were quite busy, she was also going to visit her relatives in another state, so our time together online was put on hold. A week passed and my heart felt like it was slowly being put through a meat mincer, she was my air and I was slowly suffocating through lack of her. Fortunately it was a hectic time workwise and the days passed quickly, it was just the nights I had to deal with. Then she phoned me at work...........my heart convulsed like it was being defibrillated, butterflies were fluttering inside me bouncing off my stomach wall, my hands shaking as we arranged to meet--SHE WAS IN MY STATE!!!!!!!!
Walking into that bar, through that sea of faces and knowing straight away who she was, I'd never seen her pic before, but she was how I pictured her in my dreams. That first kiss was surely a taste of heaven, the moulding of our bodies as we held each other tightly was on a higher plateau. For the next two days we were entwined in each other, there was no world like this, no wars, no news, no problems..........just us.
A few months later she moved down here, about 20mins from where I live, we often talk about "our good old days" and how we both hold it close in our hearts, we are best friends and share time, even if we have both started other relationships...........lovers come and go, what we have is much better.


"Anonymous"

Bizarre Date

Mr. Cling
Posted on November 1, 2003
CJ wrote: I'd never tried online dating before, but all those ads for lavalife and match.com gets a girl thinking. I'd just been through a divorce and decided I needed to have a little fun again. I joined up and got lots of responses, even though I didn't put my picture up on the net (for privacy reasons.) So, I met this one guy who was cute, a med school student at USC, and my age- 25. He sounded really cool, but over the phone had slightly geeky humor. We went out on a date- met at Starbuck's and went on to dinner. It was nice. So, we went out 2 days later to a club with 2 of my friends. This little insecure jerk would not stop grabbing me and trying to shove his tongue down my throat all night. Can we say needy and clingy??? I'm also a smoker and he's not. I'm respectful of non- smokers, so I walk a few feet away to have my nicotene. However, this jackass followed me, begged me not to smoke- to kiss him instead and FORCEFULLY swatted the cigarette out of my hand, breaking my watch!! This was all before we get in the club. Inside, he was jealous of my friends (my best girl friend and a gay friend) and kept trying to corner me and have me to himself. He couldn't dance (even though he went on and on about how good he was,) and had terrible breath. I had enough and after the club, he took me home. He begged me to come up and "cuddle" with him and to just kiss him. I was so annoyed because he kept trying to grab me and I literally had to wrestle my way free from his grip to have some space. I told him some excuse like I was drunk, etc... and went inside. It was too bad because he was cute- just a complete dumbass. This guy had almost no social skills. I will definitely be more careful of who I meet online.

Beware Of Sweet Talkers

Tammy wrote: I met this guy on line, he was everything I was looking for in a man. Boy was I wrong, I opened up to him on how I was used by men in the past and he used this info to do just that!!The last visit I had with him, he was talking marriage and family plans telling me how much he loved me and that I was the one he wanted. I get home and he gets this cold shoulder with me, I ask him what's wrong and he tells me to leave him alone that it's over. I go around for days hurt and heartbroken, telling my friends I dont understand what happened. And than the big bomb! I e-mailed him telling him I can't go on with my life not knowing what happened. He told me he had other women he was writing and was going to be going out with one the following weekend!! I was soo hurt. I'm just glad I didn't marry the @@$*^^@ before finding out!!!

Internet Dating

A few short years ago, the common assumption was that anyone who'd turn to their computer for love had to be a geeky, pathetic loser who couldn't get a date. More recently, with the Internet changing everything from the way we shop to the way we find driving directions, cyberspace has become the hottest pick-up joint on the planet.
These stories prove not only that normal, stable everyday folks are using the internet to find romance, but that sometimes... there's still a lot of freaks out there.