How to Become a First-Time Author

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The journey to becoming a first-time author is different for everyone. For me, it involved letting go of the idea that I’d ever get published. I know this sounds counter-intuitive.

The temptation to imitate our heroes is one the biggest stumbling blocks for writers.

Here’s the secret to becoming a first-time author: it’s like dating. When you don’t care if she says yes . . . she says yes.

When you’re not concerned with what the publishing world wants (and I mean, truly not concerned) you are free to write with the wildness and freedom that the world is craving.

Embrace the paradox.

By not worrying about being an author, you are on your way to becoming one.

Learn more about marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure in The 90-Day Novel, The 90-Day Memoir, or The 90-Day Screenplay workshops.

Blog, First-Time Novelist, Memoir, Novel / Fiction, Screenwriting

by Alan Watt

About the author

Alan Watt is the author of the international bestseller Diamond Dogs, winner of France’s Prix Printemps, and the founder of alanwatt.com (formerly L.A. Writers’ Lab). His book The 90-Day Novel is a national bestseller. As Alan has been teaching writing for over two decades, his workshops and the 90-day process have guided thousands of writers to transform raw ideas into finished works, and marry the wildness of their imaginations to the rigor of story structure to tell compelling stories.