Goodreads asked Rafe Jadison:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Rafe Jadison I don't know that I'm qualified to answer that question. I think there are many areas where I would love some advice. On the other hand, I don't know that anyone is qualified to answer that question. When writers advise other writers, we are simply telling others what worked for us, although there are certain things that work for many people. I think the first thing you have to do is write. I think we all know people who talk about how they are going to write. They buy beautiful foo foo writing accoutrements, and plan these great writer weekends, but then they don't write. I think most writers like to fiddle around, but we all have to get to that point where we set aside a time to ignore all the many other things we need to do, and we just write. That time can be anytime, but you need to find that time. For some people it may be daily, for others it may be all day Saturday. We're different, and so are our schedules. Don't be afraid to make time for yourself. I actually came up with an idea to tell people that I was having dinner with a friend on nights I needed to write and just tell them the friend's name was the name of a character. I don't think I've had to do that much, but I keep it on the back burner. Another thing that I think people can do is to write for themselves. I think when you are able to knock out all the ideas that you have of what a good book is and write that thing you want to write, you free yourself up mentally. I think it's great to take classes and read books on writing. Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction is amazing. It teaches you all the basics and is used by writers at a variety of levels. Ultimately though, you have to be confident in what you've learned and just write. One thing that has really worked for me is to keep a side project on the back burner. If I find myself struggling with my work in progress, I can go to the side project. One of my favorite pieces started off as a play project because I was stuck with the work I considered to be my serious piece. The side project flowed like Niagara Falls, and I think a great deal of that was due to the fact that I had low expectations for it and so the pressure was off. I also suggest that writers read. Don't just read the people who write as you think you want to, read everyone. It usually doesn't hurt to learn different ways to do something.

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