Want to be a writer? Listen.

“How do I become a writer?”

It’s a simple enough question, but when askedit by a fifth-grader, I was stumped. At first, I started to go down the cliche path: writers write.

“The answer everyone gives,” I said, “is that if you want to be a writer, write. Just make sure you write every day, and stick with it.”

The boy looked at me with no response, and I couldn’t blame him.What I’d said wasabout as useless as it was generic.Want to be a runner? Run. Want to write software? Write software. Want...