So you call yourself a writer.  Just how serious are you with your writing?  Do you jot down a few words whenever you have time?  Do you play scenes through your head while in the shower or driving to work?  Do you rip articles or photos from magazines as you envision a scene or character? Or save links to interesting web pages in your bookmarks?

These are not necessarily signs of a serious writer.  These are more the habits of a hobby writer.  In order to be considered a serious writer, you need to set time aside every day or week that is exclusively for writing.  You must close yourself away, turn off the phones, ignore your email, and just write, write, write.

Your chances of getting published are greater as a serious writer with routines.  Once you set aside that time, you are telling yourself and the world that this is your career.  You are a writer.  As you continue to write, you will start to see that over time, you will begin to do some editing also.  Use your time to write, polish your writing, then write some more, until you have a completed project that is ready for an editor.

You can’t turn in your magazine clippings, scraps of paper or imaginings to an editor.  So stop being a hobbyist and start being a writer.