Jennifer deBie
Read.
Read books you like and books you don't think you'll like and poetry and essays and newspapers and the backs of cereal boxes while you eat breakfast. Every page you read is another tool in your chest, it expands your perspective, your vocabulary, and your understanding of the way language works.
If you want to commit words to pages, then read as many pages as you can. If someday you want people to do you the courtesy of reading your words, then you should do the courtesy of reading theirs.
And then, when you've read the novels and essays and poetry collections and cereal boxes, start writing. Practice your craft, the first draft is crap? That's okay. That's what edits are for. Just get it down, you can make it better later.
Read books you like and books you don't think you'll like and poetry and essays and newspapers and the backs of cereal boxes while you eat breakfast. Every page you read is another tool in your chest, it expands your perspective, your vocabulary, and your understanding of the way language works.
If you want to commit words to pages, then read as many pages as you can. If someday you want people to do you the courtesy of reading your words, then you should do the courtesy of reading theirs.
And then, when you've read the novels and essays and poetry collections and cereal boxes, start writing. Practice your craft, the first draft is crap? That's okay. That's what edits are for. Just get it down, you can make it better later.
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