Kent asked Maggie Stiefvater:

I go to a lot of author conferences and they all say the same to me. "Good luck on your writing!" Thing is they don't even know me why do they wish me luck? Is it so they can torture poor young authors?

Maggie Stiefvater Don't listen to any of those authors. Luck plays such a tiny role in a writers' career — luck might get you published a few months earlier, or might land you with an editor who isn't planning on leaving the publishing house any time soon, or might score you nice placement on the bookstore shelf if your topic is suddenly hot in the news. But luck has nothing to do with a long-term career. In twenty years, the stroke of luck that got you ahead faster than you would have is canceled out by hundreds of events that you've influenced through persistence and skill and constantly paying attention to your surroundings so that bears don't eat you.

Writing stories for other people isn't about luck: it's about learning how to craft a story that other people love as much as you do.

So no, my friend Kent, I will not wish you luck. I will tell you: don't get eaten by bears. Keep practicing. Don't give up. That's really all there is to it.

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