I've always loved to write. Granted I haven't been writing very much these days because of university but I want to publish a book one day. I want to keep writing as a hobby because I want to do more but I've never published anything before and I keep getting discouraged. I'm in a medicine university and I try to write when I'm free but I feel like it's never good enough.
I've been trying to write more on Fanfiction, read more and try to widen my vocabulary but I feel it's all in vain. I feel like something is missing for me to be a better writer. I'm too afraid of actually writing a book. I'm worried that I'm not experienced enough that people will hate it and that it won't be as good as I've always wanted.
Please tell me is there anyone that are writers without a degree here and if there is how did you do it? How did you manage to publish something? How can I teach myself to be better than I am today? I'm still eighteen and I know I have miles away before I can be that writer that really connects to the readers. Just how can I do it? I want to do medicine and I want to write. I want to do both and I'm torn apart. I feel like I've made a mistake and I don't know anymore. I'm really scared for the future so can someone please just tell me please.
If anyone knows a website I can go on to that professionals could actually critique my work and give me helpful advice I would really appreciate it (not whatpad the only genre that matters there is romance).
Answer
You do not need a degree to become a writer; you have the Internet. You can teach yourself what you need to know to become a writer; including some experiences you may not yet have (or may never have), and thus may not "connect" to entirely. Keep in mind that writers often have characters doing things they themselves have never done; murder being one extreme, or engaging in homosexual sex, or being in a sword fight for their life, or kidnapping a child, or a woman killing her rapist or abusive husband, or being involved in an elaborate con, or being a spy.
They did not learn how to make these sound authentic in college, they did research outside of it. Some things (being an authentic doctor or lawyer) may demand a lot of research, but even there: You don't have to actually practice medicine or law to get to something plausible. Just like the actors on TV don't have to be doctors, physicists or lawyers or psychologists in order to make a plausible acting experience.
You can also read what others have written, and emulate that (not copy it).
Further, you can read what published fiction authors have written about writing and how to go about it, like Stephen King ("On Writing") or Orson Scott Card or hundreds of others. Read ten books by different people and get a feel for what a story is.
(Books on writing are heavily biased toward plotting and planning a story. Many of us do not write like that, Stephen King is a "discovery writer", letting his story and characters develop as he goes. I suggest his book as a balance to most of what you will find out there.)
As for being discouraged: Most published authors write a few books before they get one published; or they revise endlessly until their first book gets published (JK Rowling revised and submitted the first Harry Potter for five years, rewriting it several times). This business takes persistence, and the average pay for a first book is around $3000 or $5000. Of course more if it is a blockbuster (like Harry Potter) but don't think you get rich on one book.
Discouragement is part of the journey. If you are writing for the fame and money alone, I don't recommend continuing. If you are writing because you love to write and find the writing and research entertaining, and hope to get published, keep on. Few people regret the time and money spent on hobbies they enjoy, even though their hobbies generate no income. Think of writing this way, with a possibility of paying but not the only reason you do it.
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