I am pleased to introduce fellow Waterloo author, Jacob Poettker, who has some words of advice for the aspiring writer.
My name is Jacob D. Poettker and up until the fifth grade, I was a perfectly normal ADHD kid. Starting then, I began an interest that soon sprouted into an obsession with writing. I strongly suggest writing for anyone and for any emotional troubles.
When writing a book, I strongly suggest making the characters before the storyline. Before you 
make the actual personality, think of your main character’s name, for example, my main character, Darkblade Huncong 19th. Let the name form an appearance and slowly but surely, a personality. Knowing the character’s personality is a key trait in writing a book. You can decide what type of problems the character will get him/her into; whether his or her life is being threatened or his/her reputation, for example. From there, if you haven’t already, develop your writing style, and the only way to find what style you like is to read to your heart’s content. From reading other authors’ writing style’s you can find what you like and dislike about them and put what you want in your style. Then it’s story time! Think of a good setting and plot and then develop the smaller details.
However, if you want to publish a book, you need to practice at your writing as much as you can. I first started with the publication of several poems before even attempting writing. Some best-selling authors suggest keeping a journal and I agree with them. If you’re writing a book and you’ve just started I bet I know one thing that you’re wondering; should I publish it? I had the exact same question. You may feel like it’s your book and you don’t want to ruin the fun of it by publishing it. Your book is your baby, and like every parent, you are protective of your baby. However, parents also learn to let their baby do more and more. I cannot describe the pride, joy and honor of being a published author! For me, it gave me all of the more hunger to write. Not only did I have to write for myself, but I have to write for my readers. I strongly suggest publishing manuscripts as soon as you believe it’s good enough to be published.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, if you want to write, practice, practice practice! Start out with easy types of writing. I began my writing career publishing several poems then worked my way up to an actual novel.
Lastly, the best advice I could ever give you, is not to let anyone else’s opinion of you get in front of your love of writing. Accept criticism but don’t stop writing because a “friend” says he doesn’t want you to. You need to write for you and you only, don’t let anyone get in the way of that. Don’t let what anyone says discourage you, but make you determined to prove them wrong or work on their constructive criticism. Also, don’t wait for someone else to start something; you need to take the first step. Don’t wait for someone else to do it, make your own step by yourself. I sent my manuscript into my publisher at midnight some summer night. My parents thought I was joking around when I told them how someone wanted to publish me. They finally believed me when a contract arrived in the mail. Be the one to make the first step, or nothing will get done.
