you always seem to get them all fed, cleaned, and in bed at the end of the day. How did you do it? What tricks have you picked up that other mothers might want to know? Or maybe you just want to share your emotional struggle of how to deal with such a large family? I'm sure there are many moms out there who would love to read about it.

Step Three: Write!

I now had my article idea – the world of Flight Simulator through the eyes of a real-world pilot. While I was still excited about the ar

This has to be the number one thing that most beginning writers struggle with – getting that first article, story, or book published. Before you start thinking that it's just too much work, or you just don't know the right people, let me fill you in on how easy it can be. While my personal experience won't work or apply for everyone, it is a good guide for getting your foot in the door as a published writer.

Step One: Be Passionate About Something!

What got me started was passion! I had something that I had a lot of experience with and was very passionate about. Being in the computer industry, I was thriving on anything having to do with computers. But, I was also passionate about flying airplanes. Thus, I was very excited about Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

Now, did you notice the key words with my situation? They are “experience”, “passionate”, and “excited”. The best writers are those who are passionate about the topic that they're writing about. What are you excited about? What do you have a lot of experience with? What are you passionate about? If you can answer those questions then you know what topics you can write about.

Step Two: Find Something To Write About

Since I was spending a significant amount of time with the Flight Simulator product, and I had a background in real-world aviation, I soon discovered that it was possible to use the maps and charts for real flight, and use them for navigation in the Flight Simulator world. I was sure that many other Flight Simulator fans knew this as well. But, did real-world pilots know this? Could real pilots gain further instruction and sharpen their navigation skills with Microsoft's Flight Simulator? Right away I knew that I had a potential article idea and a potential market – Aviation Magazines!

When you are passionate about something, you tend to come across ideas and concepts that others may not have thought of before. Maybe you're a mother with 5 kids at home, and you come to the realization that you always seem to get them all fed, cleaned, and in bed at the end of the day. How did you do it? What tricks have you picked up that other mothers might want to know? Or maybe you just want to share your emotional struggle of how to deal with such a large family? I'm sure there are many moms out there who would love to read about it.

Step Three: Write!

I now had my article idea – the world of Flight Simulator through the eyes of a real-world pilot. While I was still excited about the art

ething that I had a lot of experience with and was very passionate about. Being in the computer industry, I was thriving on anything having to do with computers. But, I was also passionate about flying airplanes. Thus, I was very excited about Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

Now, did you notice the key words with my situation? They are “experience”, “passionate”, and “excited”. The best writers are those who are passionate about the topic that they're writing about. What are you excited about? What do you have a lot of experience with? What are you passionate about? If you can answer those questions then you know what topics you can write about.

Step Two: Find Something To Write About

Since I was spending a significant amount of time with the Flight Simulator product, and I had a background in real-world aviation, I soon discovered that it was possible to use the maps and charts for real flight, and use them for navigation in the Flight Simulator world. I was sure that many other Flight Simulator fans knew this as well. But, did real-world pilots know this? Could real pilots gain further instruction and sharpen their navigation skills with Microsoft's Flight Simulator? Right away I knew that I had a potential article idea and a potential market – Aviation Magazines!

When you are passionate about something, you tend to come across ideas and concepts that others may not have thought of before. Maybe you're a mother with 5 kids at home, and you come to the realization that you always seem to get them all fed, cleaned, and in bed at the end of the day. How did you do it? What tricks have you picked up that other mothers might want to know? Or maybe you just want to share your emotional struggle of how to deal with such a large family? I'm sure there are many moms out there who would love to read about it.

Step Three: Write!

I now had my article idea – the world of Flight Simulator through the eyes of a real-world pilot. While I was still excited about the ar

What do you have a lot of experience with? What are you passionate about? If you can answer those questions then you know what topics you can write about.

Step Two: Find Something To Write About

Since I was spending a significant amount of time with the Flight Simulator product, and I had a background in real-world aviation, I soon discovered that it was possible to use the maps and charts for real flight, and use them for navigation in the Flight Simulator world. I was sure that many other Flight Simulator fans knew this as well. But, did real-world pilots know this? Could real pilots gain further instruction and sharpen their navigation skills with Microsoft's Flight Simulator? Right away I knew that I had a potential article idea and a potential market – Aviation Magazines!

When you are passionate about something, you tend to come across ideas and concepts that others may not have thought of before. Maybe you're a mother with 5 kids at home, and you come to the realization that you always seem to get them all fed, cleaned, and in bed at the end of the day. How did you do it? What tricks have you picked up that other mothers might want to know? Or maybe you just want to share your emotional struggle of how to deal with such a large family? I'm sure there are many moms out there who would love to read about it.

Step Three: Write!

I now had my article idea – the world of Flight Simulator through the eyes of a real-world pilot. While I was still excited about the ar

Flight Simulator fans knew this as well. But, did real-world pilots know this? Could real pilots gain further instruction and sharpen their navigation skills with Microsoft's Flight Simulator? Right away I knew that I had a potential article idea and a potential market – Aviation Magazines!

When you are passionate about something, you tend to come across ideas and concepts that others may not have thought of before. Maybe you're a mother with 5 kids at home, and you come to the realization that you always seem to get them all fed, cleaned, and in bed at the end of the day. How did you do it? What tricks have you picked up that other mothers might want to know? Or maybe you just want to share your emotional struggle of how to deal with such a large family? I'm sure there are many moms out there who would love to read about it.

Step Three: Write!

I now had my article idea – the world of Flight Simulator through the eyes of a real-world pilot. While I was still excited about the ar

you always seem to get them all fed, cleaned, and in bed at the end of the day. How did you do it? What tricks have you picked up that other mothers might want to know? Or maybe you just want to share your emotional struggle of how to deal with such a large family? I'm sure there are many moms out there who would love to read about it.

Step Three: Write!

I now had my article idea – the world of Flight Simulator through the eyes of a real-world pilot. While I was still excited about the article, I sat down and wrote out what topics I wanted to cover. I wanted to start out with a flying situation that sounded like I was really flying and was getting into some bad weather. Then when the flying got really tough, I would pause the simulator, and then introduce how the product helped to sharpen my navigation and situational awareness skills. Once my theme was in place, and my main topics were decided upon, I started writing. When I was done, I had a nice 1300 word article ready for submission.

This is where most hopeful writers stall out! They convince themselves that no one would really be interested in hearing what they had to say. They just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write. Or, they sit at the computer but can't seem to come up with the right words. Ah, good old writers block! Many a book and article have been written about how to get started. What worked for me was just forcing myself to start writing. I would sit at the computer until I finally had something. This can take 5 minutes, or it can take an hour or more. The point is – don't get up until you've written something. You find that once you get started, it's hard to stop. And after you've done it a few times, you'll discover that it gets easier to just start writing as soon as you sit down.

Step Four: Target Your Market and Get the Guidelines

Now that I had my article written, I was ready to start submitting. I went to the newsstand and purchased 5 different magazines about aviation and flying. I then looked for the column in each magazine that said who to contact for article submissions and guidelines. I knew that the top of the market magazine in the industry was “Flying Magazine”, so that's the one I wanted to target first. I contacted them and got a copy of their writer's guidelines. I soon discovered that they wanted double spaced type, in a text document format, and that it was to be submitted in printed format with a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope), for sending it ba