Why Write When Others Write So Much Better?

Every writer I know can identify with the following:

I was only halfway through Stuart Dybek’s I Sailed with Magellan when I decided I should just give up on writing altogether; that the intimacy he achieves with childhood and adolescence was more than I could ever imagine accomplishing, and I wanted to leave it to him, a far more lyric, braver writer than I would ever be. At these humbling moments, I remember advice I received from Dan Chaon while studying fiction at Oberlin.

That’s from “Becoming a Mapbuilder” by Danielle Lazarin (@d_lazarin). The advice she received from Chaon? There’s a very specific world that only you can write about. Click here to read her entire column over at Glimmer Train.

You can also find the following at their new bulletin:

Oh, The Mistakes I’ve Made and The Wonders to Howl About by Stefanie Freele, which includes 4 mistakes and 4 magnificent things that surprised her about the writing and publishing world.
Looking Back by Andrew Porter, on not being quick to discount your early work.
Click here to view the entire Glimmer Train bulletin.