Becoming an Author: Preparing to Write

The very thing to consider before putting words onto a page is to prepare yourself.  In order to prepare for becoming an author, you need to know and understand yourself.  Ask yourself some of these questions:

• Am I a logical or creative type of person?
• Are you at your best in the morning, noon or night – or in-between all those times?
• Do you know your food and fluid patterns?
• Do you know your mood swings?
• Are you aware of the type of diet that gives you more energy?
• Where do you feel most comfortable?
• Are you able to plan, to budget, to sit down and to concentrate?

A Note on Food and Fluids

As a psychotherapist, I understand a little about what food and fluids can do to your moods. As a writer, you need to make a note of the kind of food and fluids that get you wired-up only to crash and burn and also those that give you the good fuel for your type of body, mind, and emotions.  I say ‘your type’ because, like glass tubes in a test laboratory, we are all different.

Treat your body like a prestigious car, or one of those old steam trains.  Owners of top-notch cars don’t put rubbish oil into the engine.  And steam train drivers don’t continue to shovel coal in the hole when they want the engine to stop at the station.

Using this analogy, you need to know the top-notch food/fluids and minerals and vitamins that are good for your particular metabolism and how much of it to consume to get the best out of yourself. For instance, if you like getting up early in the morning, don’t eat after 8 pm in the evening. Why? Because your body and brain will have to work throughout the night (when you are supposed to be resting) on breaking that food down which only means you’ll wake up tired and unable to write.

It’s also good to know that vitamins and minerals that you buy over the counter are not all made the same.  As with every other product on the market, you get what you pay for.

After a while, you’ll get to know what’s good for you and what benefits your body, mind, and emotions so that you can write and become the author you want to be.

Knowing what is best for you, will enable you to continue to write when and how you want to.

All the best,

Kaye Bewley

EXTRACT from: How to be an Author – Vol.1: Writing Your Writing