Being a Writer - Do You Have What it Takes?

Being a Writer - Do You Have What it Takes? by James Kronefield

Do you think you have what it takes to be a talented writer? Most of today's writers seem to forget that the richest source of material for any topic is what happens to you from day to day. Take a tip from the professionals. They reach into their past for the moments and episodes that brought them pleasure, excitement, and even pain, as long as it is interesting for them to look back upon. Or they go out and gather their material by living it.

This is a yes or no questionnaire for you to take that will help you make an inventory of the writing skills that you already posses and the one that you will have to work at because you have not yet acquired them. The questions will give you a idea of what skill you will need to posses if you intend to have superior writing practices. Your answers will offer you a challenge to set up goals in your self-improvement program.

1. Do you take care to select a topic, when you have a choice, or to treat it, when you don't, on the basis of your own interests and experiences?

2. Do you limit the ground you want to cover (scope) to what can be properly discussed in the number of words required?

3. Do you try to be original in your approach?

4. Before you write, do you in some way pre-pare what you are going to say in the begin-g, middle, and end?

5. Is your opening paragraph as exciting and unusual as you can make it?

6. Is each middle paragraph a thoroughly developed unit, complete in itself as well as a contribution to the main idea?

7. Do you avoid generalities and repetition by using details, examples, or references to support your statements?

8. Do you maintain continuity? Do the sentences and paragraphs tie in with the ones that come before as well as the ones that follow?

9. Do you make a conscious effort to use words that are vivid and effective, that reveal your personality and imagination?

10. Dose your last paragraph leave the reader with the feeling that you have brought your composition to a logical and interesting conclusion?

11. Do you check your work for mechanical errors before you hand it in?

12. Do you constantly seek self-improvement in correctness of expression?

For example, if you have a spelling or sentence structure problem, have you made a really sustained effort to get rid of your bad habits in these fields?

Now you know where you stand, and what needs to be done if you desire to improve your writing skills. The No's indicate those areas in which your greatest weaknesses lie, and they point a finger at the skills you must try to master.

For more information on being professional a writer and writing please visit www.TheTalentedWriter.com

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