Expert: Susan Rand - 2/25/2006

Question
I'm 15 years old and i'm not very acedemically inclined. I was wondering is it possible for me to have a career in writing fiction novels alone?
wow this might get confusing.. bear with me
I'm very passionate about my writing.. more so about my "ideas" I admit I need some help when it comes to some things. I have an excellent vocabulary, and grammer and usage.All that comes naturally to me. I have good ideas, and i know what i'm writing about.. i just have missing spaces in my plot.. characters.. in just about everything.and i have a hard time focusing.
How could I focus? I know i can do this but how do I get there?

Answer
Hello Jamie:

Those too young to write are in diapers. At your age, though, you are looking at beginning to learn how to write - as is natural for a child still in school. If you want to write fiction professionally, you will need to study the subject, just as you would study computers or bookkeeping. If you will pay attention in school they will teach you that it's "grammar," not "grammer." If you are not "academically inclined" it may prove difficult for you to learn the mechanics of the written word. However, at 15, you have plenty of time to develop this skill; with maturity you will learn to appreciate learning.

My suggestion to you is to stay in school, take all the English and composition classes you can, and continue this if you attend college. Read all the good books you can, and try to figure out how the author achieved the effects she did. Join some writer's groups online and put samples of your work up for critique. Of course you will get opinions that are helpful and some that are useless; as you go along you will learn to tell the difference, and be able to apply what you have learned to your own work.

I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high score over 600 questions.

And good luck with your writing!