Goodreads asked Barbara Delinsky:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Barbara Delinsky Read. Read. Read. Find the kinds of books you most love. Read them once, twice, even three times. Study their structure by outlining them.

Then outline your own book, using that model as a guide.

Unfortunately, writing is a business. What that generally means is that if you want to sell a book, the books by other writers that you have loved, outlined, and used as a model should be current. A book that is new to the stores this year is a better indicator of what publishers are buying than a book that was published ten years ago.

That said, imitation is only one way to go. When I wrote my first book, what set it apart (I was later told) was that it had a fresh voice. Basically, I had taken the model from which I was working and had given it my own twist. This is what you need to do. Actually, my freshness was mild. Some of the most successful books in recent years have worked because they are totally new and different in both subject matter and approach.

The other thing you need to do if you want to be a writer is to start. That’s it. Start. Sit down, set goals for yourself—even small ones, like writing a page or two each day – and do it!

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