How, When, Where and What?

Writers face so many questions when they consider the possibility of writing.  How do I find readers for my work?  Where can I write so that readers can find me?  When do I stop being a writer and start becoming an author?  And of course the big one; what do I write about?
Let's answer these one at a time.
Where can you write?  Well the internet is a crazy thing, and today there are so many places that new writers can write, that it is easy to feel like your audience may never find you.  Twenty years ago, if you wanted someone to read something you wrote, you either got it in a newspaper or had a book printed.  The options were much more limiting and this made the work of writing the biggest challenge.  Today the biggest challenge is finding a platform that allows you to write what you want to write, and then matching this work with the people who will want to see it.  Unfortunately these people have to dig through millions of other works and sources to be matched up with your work.
Well for fiction literature, the job has been made a little easier with the launch of the Ficfun website (ficfun.com).  Let's face it, if you have in mind the idea to write a science fiction novel, or a romance novel, or some clever mystery you have the chance today to have an audience exposed to your work immediately.  What's more, you don't have to have the book completed before posting it, you can post a chapter at a time.  You could never do that with a paper book!
You can also post on blogs and Facebook, and you cold start your own website - there are so many places you could post your next literary idea.  The trick is to consider who will be exposed to your work; so find a place that readers have already gathered.
That actually answered two questions, finding readers for your work will be easier if you post on a popular website; and for beginners it is possible for that to be completely free.  Don't pay to find readers, get some free exposure first and maybe some constructive criticism along with it.
When will you stop being a writer and start being an author?  Well that is a tricky question.  I was writing in high school and have continued writing ever since.  I have not had one complete idea yet; my novel ideas do not get finished so I don't think I am an author.  To be perfectly honest, this is another reason that I like ficfun.com.  The ability to post one chapter at a time is so much less intimidating, but on the flip side it does put just enough pressure on me to actually keep those posts coming.  I have people reading the first five chapters so I had better get the sixth one done!  What a great idea that was to read novels online.  No app to download!
Final question: what do I write?  This one has no answer that I can give you.  I believe there is an amazing story inside of each of us.  Yours might be science fiction and mine might be a great romance novel.  The hard part is getting that story out and working on it.  I don't think you or I will simply sit down and type a masterpiece; I think we will type out a great story and then somebody who is much smarter than us will help us to fix the parts that need fixing.  I think a great novel is the result of many people doing a lot of great work - but that work starts with some normal person writing a story.  So figure out what your story is.  Write it down and get some criticism.  I might read your novel online and you might read mine.  And maybe, just maybe.....something great will come of it.  Then we will no longer be a writer, we will be an author.