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"Melissa Walker, author of the newly released book Violet on the Runway, guest blogs for us and shares her tips for being a writer. My first book was eight pages, handwritten (archaic, but charming, right?). It was about an unpopular 16-year-old girl who desperately wanted her jock crush to ask her to the prom. Really original, I know. I was 14 when I wrote it, and I just knew I&amp;#039;d become a writer.  On my path to becoming a writer, a lot of people told me that it&amp;#039;s impossible to make writing a career. They are so wrong. In high school and college, I started writing nonfiction articles for the school newspaper, and that led to jobs in magazine writing, which led to ... drumroll ... my first book, Violet on the Runway. It&amp;#039;s about a gawky, awkward high school senior named Violet who gets discovered by a model scout and brought into the crazy-intense New York City fashion world. I knew I wanted to write Violet on the Runway when I started interviewing models for magazine stories. Their world was so fascinating. I wondered, What must it be like to walk your first runway show, live in a small apartment with other &amp;quot;pin thin&amp;quot; girls, and compete for jobs, recognition, acclaim ... and guys? So Violet is a real girl from a small town, one who has real insecurities and flaws, one who goes into this crazy, dark, beautiful world of fashion unsure of herself and comes out with a better sense of her own inner strength. So what will you write about? It&amp;#039;s not too early for you to get started if you want to be a writer \u2014 there are thousands of venues that want to hear young voices. Like, for example, Seventeen! All the writing you do now is paving the way to a career \u2014 if you want it. Here are my three tips to taking the first step, right now: 1. If you don&amp;#039;t have a public writing venue yet, blog. Remember, paper journals still have a function (namely holding your deepest, darkest secrets), and you don&amp;#039;t have to spill your guts online to have an interesting blog. You can write about newsworthy events, your Hills obsession, what you think of Amy Winehouse ... and your blog can serve as a writing sample when you take the next step. 2. Put yourself out there. Are you opinionated about issues in the news? Start by sending a few opinion letters to your local paper. Build a relationship with an editor, and soon you could be proposing a column that makes you the voice of your generation in town. If you like writing about fashion or beauty, suggest that your local or school newspaper run a section about style (written by you, of course!). 3. If you have a story idea for a big magazine, send in a summary of what you want to write about (that&amp;#039;s called a &amp;quot;pitch&amp;quot; in magazine terms). Just because you&amp;#039;re young doesn&amp;#039;t mean you can&amp;#039;t report on an issue in your high school, or suggest an amazing person you know to profile. In fact, some magazines want you to write for them because you&amp;#039;re young! So go for it. Read Melissa&amp;#039;s blog at melissacwalker.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/a932/violet-buzz-092407/>