To young writers, I would merely say, “Try to develop actual work habits, and even though you have a busy life, try to reserve an hour or more a day to write.” Some very good things have been written on an hour a day… So, take it seriously and just set a quota.
Try to think of communicating with some ideal reader somewhere. Try to think of getting into print. Don’t be content just to call yourself a writer and then bitch about the crass publishing world that won’t run your stuff. We’re still a capitalist country, and writing to some degree is a capitalist enterprise, when it’s not a total sin to try to make a living and court an audience.
“Read what excites you,” would be my advice, and even if you don’t imitate it you will learn from it… I would like to think that in a country this large – and a language even larger – that there ought to be a living in it for somebody who cares, and wants to entertain and instruct a reader.
~ JOHN UPDIKE
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