Goodreads asked Jeffrey Matthews:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Jeffrey Matthews Don't listen to anyone. Don't read writing books or subscribe to writing magazines (sorry, Writer's Digest). All that stuff will make you nuts and I later found none of it had anything to do with the actual process of writing and telling a story. And the best you can, don't doubt yourself, especially while you're hotly in the moment of writing - just write. If something inside you is making you want to write, then you're a writer, even if you don't have a word down on paper. Just keep telling yourself the stories and when you're ready, sit down and regurgitate it. I do make an outline, but that usually gets trashed by about the 3rd chapter. I let my characters say what they want and they have often surprised me with their outbursts (again, all in my head) that I neither outlined for them or pre-scripted for them. And when that happens I just let them rant, or sometimes, even be silent. Many of my characters simply spoke for themselves, and that's when the crushing self-doubt comes in. Ignore it. So my advice is write, write, write, and never doubt what flows onto the page. There will be plenty of time later to edit, edit, edit.

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