Over the years, many of my readers have written to me wanting to know how I got started writing and how they can get started writing. Their requests made me realize just how many people have a secret yearning to write and see their words in print.

To see a list of the writing classes I teach, click here: www.patriciakay.com/classes.

I always wanted to write. In fact, I always did write. I just didn't write novels. As a kid, I wrote poems and plays that my friends and siblings acted out. In high school I wrote short stories and a column for the high school newspaper, and I was the editor-in-chief of the class yearbook.

As a young married woman, I wrote lots of letters and dreamed about writing a novel. Finally, just before my 49th birthday, when I was bored with my job and facing the prospect of never doing anything else, I decided it was now or never. I promptly signed up for a creative writing class at my local community college—the best decision I ever made. I strongly urge you to do the same thing—find a good class where you'll learn the basics of the craft of writing. It doesn't matter if you want to write novels, short stories, screenplays, essays, or poetry.

However, I should warn you: there's very little commercial market for short stories and even less for poetry. Essays are salable, but you certainly won't make anything other than pin money doing them, even if you're lucky enough to sell them. Screenplays are iffy. It's a highly specialized field, and you've really got to work hard and serve a fairly long apprenticeship if you hope to be successful. If you are serious about writing and want to do it for a living, commercial (as opposed to literary) novels are probably the area where you'll have the best chance for success.

However, be warned. Breaking into publishing is extremely difficult. The odds against selling are very high. You not only need talent, you need patience, persistence, self-discipline, dogged determination, a thick skin (to cope with all the rejection), and a measure of luck. Of all of these, talent, persistence, and the thick skin are the most important. You also need knowledge of the markets and a professional approach to the goal you've set for yourself.

Through my classes (I took four semesters of creative writing) and through a wonderful, nurturing teacher, I gradually learned my craft. I also learned about writers' groups and writers' conferences and began joining the groups and attending the conferences. I discovered the Romance Writers of America soon after deciding romance novels were my true calling. And through RWA, I began to learn about publishing houses--who publishes what and the kinds of things they were looking for. I learned the names of editors and got market tips on where to submit my work.

Through RWA and my writing classes, I met several other writers with whom I felt a kinship, and we formed a critique group. We met each week and critiqued each other's work. I entered contests sponsored by RWA and other writers' groups. I caught the attention of editors through these contests and even though my earliest work was rejected (I wrote five novels before selling one), the rejections got more encouraging. Finally, in February of 1990, I sold my first novel to Silhouette. To date, I've sold a total of forty-three novels to four different publishing houses.

At this point, I'd like to say a bit more about rejection. If you bruise easily, if you think your words are too precious to be tampered with, if you cannot take criticism, if you fold under pressure—this business is not for you. Only the toughest need apply, because this is an extremely tough business. The competition is staggering. Out of every ten people I meet, at least one dreams of becoming a writer. Publishing houses receive thousands of unsolicited manuscripts every month.

You must believe in yourself and want to achieve your goal more than anything else in the world, and you must be single-minded about it. Rejection, instead of making you cry or doubt yourself, should make you mad. You should develop an I'll-show-them attitude. Now, after having said all that, if you are still interested in becoming a published writer, read on.

Recommendations:

Good luck!

To read a fascinating blog addressing problems and issues writers have to deal with constantly, don't miss http://toberead.blogspot.com/