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No qualifications for me. Just read read read. I think MikeL is right about having an inner creativity there. Also to be able to look all around you and see.
RebeccaZ said "I did start a Writers Bureau course but came to a stop after assignment 6"
Why did you stop? I did too! I'd got to the stage where I was having (a small amount of) success and it was difficult finding the time to write for the course too.
Only ever had one agency representation but it didn't last long. That was way back in the 60s. Since then I have found my own markets, contacted publishers and have negotiated all my own work. Couple of times publishers came to me asking me to write for them. I wrote to a Norwegian publisher, finding their address in a Corgi Books translation - and that led to writing Western short stories, then a Western series for them. With Gold Eagle, my current publisher (started with them in 1988) I simply wrote to them, sent them my CV and asked if they would give me a try. I wrote a complete action/adventure for one of their series. They took it, asked for three more, and that is how it's been ever since.
Thanks for that MikeL. It's just that I'm embarking on the process of trying to find a US market for my animal-orientated novel. Have got the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents and have e-mailed over 30. Two agents have asked to read the book. Had another way back who took over five months before coming back to say she wasn't interested. Seems it can be a long, laborious process. From what you say there may be a better chance if I try contacting publishers directly. I have been advised by a US publicist to actually send in the novel to publishers but I see that as a potentially costly exercise. I'd also really need to track down a name at a particular publishing house otherwise the book could just get lost in the system. Funnily enough, last night I was trawling the Internet re Vet TV series and came by chance on a news item of how James Herriot got started. Apparently his first novel languished in the UK market only selling c 1500 copies (same as mine). It got picked up by the Director of the US Publisher, St Martins Press. His wife had spotted the book on her coffee table, read it and persuaded her husband to take a look. He then got Jim Wight to combine two books together with a revamped title of 'All Creatures Great and Small'. The rest is history. That gives me the encouragement to battle on with getting a foot in the US market. If it fails, at least I'll have tried.
Only o levels in English (language and lit). I did start a writing course about 12 years ago but only get to assignment 3 before life got in the way, I don't think they would let me restart it after all this time. I have read lots of books on writing but have always been and avid reader, I have always been able to get lost in a book. I started writing at an early age (just scribbling stories) often writing extra stories for the secret seven etc. My Grandmother also used to write (she hada few bits published in the Dalesman) and self published a book of poetry when she was about 60. She only ever submitted one book to a publishedd and was so upset when it was rejected that she never submitted anything again. She died in November and I have still got to try and read her pile of writing (which is in longhand).
Back to the original thread. All my other qualifications have been work related and not to do with writing but I think are all knowledge and experience which will help in the long run.
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No qualifications for me. Just read read read. I think MikeL is right about having an inner creativity there. Also to be able to look all around you and see.
Why did you stop? I did too! I'd got to the stage where I was having (a small amount of) success and it was difficult finding the time to write for the course too.
Have you got any more now?
Back to the original thread. All my other qualifications have been work related and not to do with writing but I think are all knowledge and experience which will help in the long run.