“I am a Writer.” Have you always dreamed of saying that, yet feel that everything in your life says that’s never going to happen.

Did you always get poor grades in English? Then you probably think you can’t write because you never learned to approach writing from outside the ‘English box.’ You were taught to think of writing from an English teacher’s perspective.

4 Goals Your English Teacher Wanted to Achieve

Here’s the problem. Your English Teacher had at least four goals for you.

• Teach you grammar and punctuation (the science of the English language);
• Teach you how to spell (the inconsistency of the English language!);
• Teach you to appreciate ‘good literature’ (the enjoyment of the English language);
• Teach you to write good literature (the craft of impressing professors with your skills in the English language).

Not every one of these elements is essential. For example, an English teacher’s idea of ‘good literature’ may be perfectly proper English, yet the reader may be so bored he’d turn the pages into outhouse material if we still used the things. There’s a major difference between ‘academic’ writing and writing for public consumption.

While grammar, punctuation and spelling are important, they aren’t everything. A good copy editor can catch most of those problems.

Sure, the ability to appreciate what makes a good read is important, yet a writing coach and/or substantive editor can help your find that sweet spot.

The truth is you may write better than your realize. The problem may be the tools you are working with.

Five Essential Writing Qualities

What are the five most important things you need to know to become an author people will pay attention to?

I’ve written a short pamphlet to cover that.

If you aren’t a member, the pamphlet is available for a small fee.

If you are a WMOB member, this pamphlet is included in your membership. Click here to sign in.