Goodreads asked Rebecca Brooks:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Rebecca Brooks Read everything, and write as much as you can. Write even when it's crappy. Especially then. Don't worry about having the right words or the perfect ending or even the best idea. Just write. Because after you write maybe a hundred pages you can't do anything with, you'll find a sentence, or an image, or a kernel of an idea—and then you can start to build something, layer by layer, discovering through trial an error and sheer persistence what else is there. But you can't get to that sentence, or image, or idea without floundering around for a bit. It doesn't mean you suck at writing or are on the wrong path. It's just part of the process, and everyone goes through it. For a long time I was afraid of writing a novel because I didn't know how. But of course I didn't know how—I'd never done it before! I only learned by doing. So my advice to anyone would be to do the thing they want to instead of waiting for a better time. There's never going to be a better time. And there's never going to be anything written unless you sit down and write it.

flag