Becoming a well-known and respected author involves more than just having a love for the craft.

Bradley Beaulieu, a widely recognized and respected author , shared this knowledge with writing and reading enthusiasts at Georgia Southern University. Beaulieu is responsible for creating fictional series such as “The Song of Shattered Sands” and “The Lays of Anuskaya”.

      Writing advice

Beaulieu encourages young writers to keep several pieces of advice in mind when creating fictional stories.

“Writing, you just have to do it everyday,” Beaulieu said. “You only need a couple hundred words a day, which is about a page in a manuscript, to get one book a year.”

According to Beaulieu, that writing is a skill that has to be practiced. Paying attention to your strengths and weaknesses or finding excuses to write about areas you are weak in whether it’s dialogue, character building, action sequences, or mystery, will help, Beaulieu added.

“Find those weaknesses and make a point of trying to strengthen them,” Beaulieu said. “Be bold. Push yourself harder.”

Writing also requires a considerable amount of patience and discipline, Beaulieu continued. Beaulieu generally drafts in about five or six months while adding polish takes at least another three or four months.

Having the patience to revise as many times as necessary is something Beaulieu stressed.

“I would sometimes write myself down a path I should not have followed,” Beaulieu said. “I’ll figure it out. I’ll replot and I’ll move forward from that point on a different path.”

Publishing advice

Beaulieu himself began by being published in magazines. As a result, he was able to become acquainted with publishers and editors.

“Try to get into magazines or anthologies,” Beaulieu said. “That helps you work on your craft in shorter form so you’re not spending full novels trying to get better.”

Beaulieu also suggested getting your name in with editors in the short fiction field because they know people in the long fiction and novel writing field. Also, being published is much easier with the help of a literary agent. Having someone who has connections and can negotiate on your behalf is more than helpful.

“In terms of a literary agent, my blanket statement is you should have one,” Beaulieu said. “They are invaluable in my opinion. They help handle the friction you may have between you and your publisher.”

Beaulieu also advised against choosing just any literary agent.

Beaulieu said, “When it comes to literary agents there are four types: there are want to be’s, there are has beens, there are scammers and there are legit agents. It’s tough to know which are which until you actually do your research.”