The Essentials to Becoming an Author

Let’s start with the basics… your highschool diploma. Do you really need that to be a recognized author? The answer is yes, or an equivalent. Say you’ve lost your passion. Your burning fire of awesomeness has burned out and you are but a mere squid. Don’t.Give.Up. You’re probably still young so you have all the time in the world to finish your courses and do what you gotta do. There are zero to no courses that’d you’d need to take to get into creative writing in college so just have fun with it, although there are a few I myself would suggest. You’re already benefiting by reading novels and stuff in english class, but it takes more than reading to enhance your skill. Along with taking an english course every year, which you already have to do, you should take writer's craft in grade 12.
So you’ve finally graduated highschool, what’s next? Well if you’re a young person living in the province of Ontario than Algonquin may be a great choice for you. They have a creative writing program which offers courses such as, writing grammatically, the essentials of writing fiction, understanding literature, writing short stories, romance writing, and poetry writing. They are all online courses, and you are only allowed to choose two for your electives. You can find more information on their website; http://www.algonquincollege.com/ccol/program/creative-writing/part-time-online/
Find as many workshops as you can, out of school, or in school (whatever’s available). You really need the initiative do an occupation like this one. You’ll hear that alot. When I was in grade 10 I went by myself to MASC, a teen authors and illustrators festival. Students in grade 8-12 are invited to attend “your story” which is the name of the program. It involves doing hands on workshops and multiple presentations. My experience going was interesting. I originally went to take part in an illustration workshop, but it was then where I realized that being an illustrator wasn't for me.
I didn’t know this until recently but I was doing some research and I actually found that there are many jobs you could take up writing. Here’s a small list of some of my findings;

-comic book writer
-novelist
-advertising
-lyricist
-personal poet
-blogger
-freelance author
-creative writing consultant

As kids, our imaginations ran like heck and it's the thoughts we had back then that we should be collecting and using as our writing tools. I have two stories I made a few years ago that make perfect examples. Something I never did but still would like to do is get them published. Anyone can do it, you just need the right willpower and perhaps a late night of research. Your first step would be getting your work accepted by a literary agent. When you’ve found an agent they’ll try to find you a big publisher. Do not worry about how much money they spend, that is their job and you are not expected to put a cent towards anything of that matter. You should establish a written contract between you and your publisher deciding what percentage of the income each of y'all get. If you need an editor you can place ads on craigslist or workopolis looking for one, or you can do it yourself.
It’s that simple (as in not at all). You need to work really really hard but if you truly enjoy writing than this may be the right career for you.