How can I become a writer?

I suggest reading a lot in English, particularly stuff by writers you enjoy and would like to write like.

Do you feel the need to restrict yourself to writing only in English? If your passion is in writing and expressing yourself, you should develop your abilities to do so in whatever language – and also work on improving your English as a parallel effort. Depending on what you plan to write about, your unique way of expressing yourself in English could even be an advantage e.g. writing in the voice of persons from a non-native English background or their dialogues. Some famous writers have used their facility with non-English languages )or mother tongue in some cases) in this way and to good effect e.g. Junot Diaz. But as I said, it all depends on what you want to write about. In any case, I’d say writing as a craft requires practice – just keep at it to develop your own voice.

The best way to become a writer is to… well, write. Keep a journal, write poems, write stories, write and write and write until you feel like you can’t write anymore and then keep going.

And remember, the first step to writing well is to be willing to write poorly.

Write. Daily. For hours.

Read, read, read.

Write, write, write.

That’s it. And it doesn’t come with a guarantee of any sort. Most people who try aren’t going to make it.

Just get a pencil…

There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter computer and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith

Desire to tell your story and not be inhibited by critics who will put you down.

You could subscribe to writing magazines (Writer or Writer’s Digest) or literary magazines (Glimmer Train or Granta are two good examples) and get ideas of what people are doing out there. I would also read the Poetry magazine and the fiction in Harper’s Bazaar, Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker and stuff online. I think all the magazines I just mentioned are available in web-format. Reading will help your English usage tremendously!

There are two spheres to being a published writer (same goes for musician, artist, etc)—1. writing for yourself and your art form, and 2. promoting yourself as a writer. I know a lot of writers who love to write and do write, but they don’t self-promote, so they don’t get read as much as they’d like, so if you want to publish and be read, you’ll have to self-promote.

Best of luck!!!

@Jeruba is right. Read, read and read some more. Read from the genre you would like to write in. Read from outside your genre. Many people forget about reading but it is an important part of learning to write well.

And write, write and write some more. Get feedback on your writing. Listen to it. Don’t be precious. Write some more.

I also agree with the question about why you feel you have to write in English and on @Linquaphile’s comments about subscribing to magazines.

Burn the midnight oil… alot