Hi, I come and go to this forum - mostly for advice or inspiration.

I am here today because I am a 16 year old computing student, who does not enjoy what he is currently doing.
I feel like if I continue through college I can become an average guy with a decent payrole and not too shabby home.

I don't want this. I feel like my life is just running away from me, and I can do nothing about it. I want to get up right now and do something with my life. I want to take action NOW. If you remember me you will know that I really want to be a successful author and I want to do something that I enjoy. I want writing to pay the bills.

So far I have written nothing really. I always loose motivation and stop. I need to know how do you keep yourself motivated while writing a huge book? How do you keep yourself going?

I don't feel comfort in writing thousands of words and then my work being wasted and not published.

I want to know, how can you tell if your idea is good enough?

I am also thinking of buying a netbook, just for my work as an author. I really want to get in to this. I want to jump in and write a lot. Does anybody have any suggestions on what type of netbook that I should purchase?

I am sorry for throwing a lot of things in the mix here. My head is confused, I just need some guidance. I am a confused teenager. I didn't ever expect to say that this age is a very hard age to cope with. I don't know where my life is going but I would like to head down the path of an author - please help me take the right steps.

Also please recommend some good books which I can learn from. I mean good authors.
I like the serial killer genre and science/fiction.

Thanks,
Liam Doherty

Ok Liam

I earn my living from writing non fiction. I wish I had known at your age that I wanted to be a writer. I was 32 when first published (almost 20 years ago). It took me years of working full-time and writing in the evenings and weekends before I could give up my day job. Those years were tough but the investment was worth it.

College will not make you average or extraordinary. You will. You want to be a writer, then that probably means finishing college because seeing things to the end is a quality writers must nurture. They do not abandon a project or their dream lightly. It helps them keep going.

Find a series of manageable steps that will lead you to your goal. The first of these steps you have already taken. You have joined writers’ forums, you have asked yourself some questions and identified some good answers. You have run up against some of things that make writing difficult. consider posting here not just for advice or inspiration but also your views on things that will get you writing and readers too. You have chosen a profession that demands a life long apprenticeship. Give yourself time.

Don't spend money to convince yourself you're for real. Do it by actually writing something.

And don't feel pressure to perform, as Mike advises.

Try just sitting down and writing something for an hour a day.

Don't quit your day job (or getting a real life) in order to stare at a keyboard. Turns out that people end up writing about what they find out from working and having real lives.