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Goodreads asked Andrew Ball:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Andrew Ball Writing is a skill, not a talent. Like any skill, it can be honed. The people that are the best at what they do - in any category - are the ones that spend the most time doing it. While some people are more naturally talented, it is practice that makes perfect.

Your first story will, unless you are yourself quite talented, not be good. Almost universally, the first draft of anything is crap. Don't cling to it, revising and revising to make it perfect. Write a second story. Write a third. Write a fourth! Don't stop writing. With each iteration of your imagination, your skill will improve, and your stories will become even better.

Contractor was my fifth novel. I think I've since become an even better writer. You never stop sharpening your pen.

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