



People are starting to ask me for writing advice. Publish a book and other writers start to think you know something they don’t.





What I want to tell everyone who asks is, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”





This isn’t really true.





Some days I know what I’m doing. Some days I don’t. And some days I let my laptop sear hot welts onto the fronts of my thighs while I stare at an empty screen, wondering what I’m doing with my life.





But I don’t tell them that.





This is what I do tell them.





The Dewey decimal number assigned to books about writing is 808. Anything you find on that shelf in your library will have better advice on writing than any wisdom I can impart.





I don’t do advice. I’m no expert.





All I can tell any aspiring writer is what I believe.





This is a cop out, I know, but I hate anything that makes it seem like I’m not down in the pit shoveling away, like every other writer I’ve ever met. I’m still figuring it out and I don’t want to pretend like I’ve got my act together.





Because I don’t.





But I do have certain beliefs; things that have helped me. I take them on faith and like all belief systems I accept full well that I could be wrong.





I believe that if you want to be a writer, you first need to be a reader.





And I believe that you should read absolutely everything. It’s not possible, but you should try anyway. Be embarrassed if someone mentions a book and you haven’t read it yet. Make friends with your book seller, your librarian and that weird kid who smells like beans and is always reading old paperbacks. These people will make you a better reader… and that will make you a better writer.





If someone says a book is great you should read it. If someone says it’s horrible you should read it. Form your own damn opinion. Be contrarian.





I say this because I also believe that if you approach a text with the mind of a student, you can learn as much from a bad book as you can from a good one.





I believe that just like figure skating in the Olympics, judgment on books is subjective. Like what you like. Write what you write. Don’t let the size of someone else’s megaphone keep you from telling the stories you want to hear.





I believe that finishing a book’s final pages, flipping right back to page one and starting over can be more valuable than any lecture the author of that same tome can give you.





I believe that transcendent books defy genre.





I believe that there are works of genius lying undiscovered in the catacombs of the Kindle store.





I also believe, just as strongly, that there are works by “supposed” geniuses on the shelves of the bookstore that would be better relegated to those same catacombs.





I believe that word “genius” has become cheap with overuse.





I believe every person should identify the granite chip that sits on their shoulder and apply a chisel to it. Life holds more joy for the people who manage to shed their stones… and who does not want more joy?





I believe in deadlines and ugly first drafts.





I believe in outlines if they work for you.





I believe in not outlining if they don’t.





I believe that inspiration strikes typing fingers, moving feet and wet shampoo-laden hair.





I believe that there should be no other voices in a drafting writer’s head other than her own. Until you are finished, the only opinion that should matter is your own.





Speaking of which, I believe in complete drafts, even if you limp across that finish line. No reader, not even your mother, is interested in half a novel.





I believe in second, third and twenty fourth opinions. Your first reader may not be the right one.





I believe there is no such thing as a perfect book... just some that come closer than others.





I believe in coffee, green tea, meditation and journaling.





I believe in naps and playing hooky.





I believe that writers become writers because they discovered that the only way they were going to get to read the story their hearts most needed was by putting it to paper themselves. Never forget that the very first person you have an obligation to is yourself. Be your own favorite writer.





I also believe with a deep bone staining conviction that there is more than one right way to be a writer and that classes and lectures and (heaven forbid) advice are only valuable if you don’t take your instructor’s word as gospel, but instead are willing to take away what works for you and toss the rest.