Friday asked David Wong:

I have followed you through your whole literary journey (at least that I know of), since the 2007 paperback release of JDATE (love the acronym). I watched you evolve as an writer from having a rough "punk edge" to being more polished and skilled, to being more mature and polished but having that edge back, at least from my experience. How did you experience that Journey?

David Wong I think it bums people out when I say that writing is just like any other career, because it sounds like I'm saying I roll out of bed, groan and say, "UGH! Time to WRITE the HORROR! MONDAYS, RIGHT?" I only mean that the process for getting better at writing, or making music, or anything else creative is the same as the process for getting better at being a dentist or teacher.

In every case, the only part that's under your control is whether or not you continue to learn new tricks, see how others do it, identify things you struggle with and fix them, keep trying to get better. There's no career out there where you can just settle into a routine, or hope that youthful enthusiasm will carry you through to retirement. The world WILL pass you by, unless you keep growing and changing.

The stuff you're doing at 40 won't be the same as what you were doing at 30 or 20 and it shouldn't be. Whether or not people will continue to be on board with it is another matter, but you can't control that. All you can do is keep trying to get better.

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