Goodreads asked Carl T. Smith:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Carl T. Smith First, Read. So you pick up a few tendencies. "My that sounds like Hemingway." So what? You will retain the good things in what you have written, get a lesson or two and then edit "Ernest" out. Second, don't be too judgmental about what you've written. It is doubtful you will ever have an objective eye about your own work. Don't listen to spouses, friends, and family about how brilliant you are; their eye is not objective either. Find a couple of people you know or a professional who is honest, owes you nothing and is literate to give you an opinion, and don't take their opinion as gospel. Use it to take another look at what you've done.

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