Some of you are still pondering the question, is there a writer in me? Author Bernice Harris gives insight on the questions she had to answer to get started on her writing career.

I believe there is a little writer in almost everyone. The challenge is to find out the kind of writer you should be. A few questions were necessary for me, and I think they would be helpful for you also in finding your genre in the literary world.

Do you have a gift for sharing stories that holds your listeners in suspense? Can you take a dull experience and make it so interesting that your audience wants more? Do you have fictional  people that have lived in your head for a long time and needs to get out and get on paper, for others to become acquainted with? Are you a whiz with words and truly want to write?  Fiction may be the genre for you.

If you have special knowledge on a specific subject and the background to back it up and you feel that a specific population out there could benefit from your experience or expertise, non-fiction writing would be something to consider.

So, choose a quiet place and time, a comfortable chair and the old trusted computer.  Write your first sentence TODAY. That sentence could be the beginning of the next bestseller.  Can’t think of a whole sentence? Write the first  word. Other words will come. Sometimes at a rate that is difficult to comprehend.

Bernice Harris is based in Chicago and the author of the self-help book Pull Your Pants Up and be a man! The book has been described as empowering and respectful and is geared towards young men between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.

Are you being pulled towards fiction or maybe even non-fiction? How did you know? Share your thoughts below.