Stop talking about writing and do it already. You can’t call yourself a writer unless you actually write. So quit your intellectual masturbating and DO IT.
Ignore anyone who says you can’t.
You don’t need an MA, MFA, or PhD to write. You just need a pencil, a pen, a notebook, a laptop, and an idea. You really must have the idea part.
Being THE BEST is overrated. No one is perfect. You probably aren’t, I’m definitely not. Coincidentally (or maybe not), human imperfection makes for excellent stories. When you see imperfection, write it down, because it’s human and beautiful.
Contribute. You’re a contributing member of the overall human experience. A recorder of the time in which you live. Give.
Lean on others. It takes a village to raise a novel. Seek out like-minds and differing opinions. Just because you love your novel like a firstborn child, does not make it infallible. Allow someone else to pick out the errors. Fix them.
Read outside your comfort zone. Do you only like romantic, dystopian YA novels? Read a memoir. Read poetry. Read a New York Times bestseller. Read a self-published author. Expand your mind and your vocabulary.
Speaking of bestsellers… you’ll probably never write one. In fact, you may write a novel that no one will ever read. But if you do get it out there, and someone does read it — they might even like it. And they might tell you that it made them think and maybe they could relate to the character. And then you’ll piss yourself because you created a character, from nothing, that someone else related to.
People will also hate your novel. You will pour all of yourself into your magnum opus, and someone out there will rip it apart and stomp on it and then light it on fire.
So it goes.
Have a drink, eat some chocolate, have sex… do what you need to do. Then start writing again. Start writing as soon as you can. In fact, try to never stop writing. Always. Be. Writing. (unless you’re reading) (or editing)
Just remember, you wrote a character that someone, somewhere cares about.
Do it again.
