In order to be a writer, one must form a writing habit. Pick a dedicated time in your schedule where you write. It does not matter how long you write for or what time you select. The key is consistency. Building this habit requires you to take yourself, and your writing seriously.
I recently attended an event at Chapter’s Bookstore, hosted by the Romantic Novels Association, a professional body dedicated to raising the prestige of romantic fiction. At the event, the association’s chair and director, Seána Talbot, spoke about the importance of respecting your desire to write as much as your other commitments.
For students, this might look like setting deadlines for your writing goals just as you would with your assignments, or informing your roommates that you need some quiet time in the same way you do when you study.
Build a community:
It can be much easier to motivate yourself to do something when you belong to a group with the same interests or goals. If you are not in a literature or creative writing degree, this can be harder to find as a student. That said writing groups you can join as a student still exist.
UCD Lit Soc hosts regular writing sessions where students from all courses can come together to write and share their work with others. Volunteering with organisations such as Fighting Words also gives access to events with other writing and literature enthusiasts. This is a great way to meet people with the same interests and sometimes network with others from the industry.
Getting your work out there:
As you develop your writing craft, it can be useful to start putting your work out there. While being offered a book deal from a major book publisher might not be the first step (though not impossible), it’s useful to start submitting your work to magazines and smaller publishers. This helps to build your reputation as a writer, gain exposure for your work, and most importantly can be a great confidence boost which encourages you to keep going.
If you do feel you are ready to submit your work to a publisher here is a list of publishers in Ireland to consider.
The O'Brien Press
Based in Rathgar, Co Dublin, the O’Brien Press accepts unsolicited manuscripts, meaning you don’t need a literary agent to make a submission. They mainly focus on children's fiction and non-fiction, adult non-fiction and a select number of adult novels. They generally do not publish poetry or academic works. Head to their website for their full submission guidelines.
Poolbeg
Poolbeg Press was founded in 1976 and aims to nurture and showcase women’s writing. They welcome submissions, whether through an agent or directly from you. A preliminary submission should consist of 3 chapters, a synopsis and a short biography. It should be posted as a printout. Should they be interested, they will get back to you to request the full manuscript. For more information head to their website.
Penguin Sandycove
Sandycove is an imprint of the Penguin General division of Penguin Random House. It accepts email submissions for fiction and non-fiction books. Submissions should include a cover letter, a synopsis of no more than 500 words, and the manuscript. More details are provided on their website. You can also indicate a preference for one of their editors to review your manuscript.
Caveat Lector
Caveat Lector is the literary magazine produced by UCD Lit Soc. Submissions are open year round. They accept scholarly essays, blog-style articles, personal essays, book reviews, and film reviews. You can make a submission for their digital magazine via email.
Write what you enjoy:
Simple but effective. Writing a genre you have no interest in, or are only attempting with the hope of getting published will be much more challenging than writing something you have already have an interest in. Think about the ideas and stories that motivated you to write in the first place. They should be your starting point.
Writing takes time, practice, and significant discipline, but if you enjoy it; it is worth every second you stare at a blank page.