Goodreads asked Jenai Auman:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Jenai Auman If you write words, you are a writer. I think qualifying it with the word "aspiring" suggests there is a standard you need to reach before you can call yourself a writer, and I don't believe that to be true. If you write words, you are a writer.

Now, if you want to grow in the craft of writing or have writing goals, that is another thing entirely.

So, to answer the original question, if you aspire to certain writing goals, start working toward them. Be willing to fail. Put your words out there and see if they resonate. Do the hard work of internal healing so you have the capacity to be vulnerable with your words. Healing internally makes rejection sting less. Rejection becomes lessons to learn from. Learn from the failures. Let yourself be a beginner again. Give yourself the freedom to say, "I don't know."

And if you well and truly do not know where to start, look to other authors and writers whose words have meant something. Pay attention to what they are saying, but also pay attention to how they are saying it.

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