Goodreads asked Daniel Martin Eckhart:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Daniel Martin Eckhart Anyone thinking about a life (note: I did not write “career”) as a writer should have an inherent passion for writing. You should have a very basic need to put your ideas to paper. You should literally be unhappy whenever you cannot write down those ideas.

We all have ideas. Whenever somebody starts with the “I have a great idea” bit, I usually listen politely, then just as politely tell them that they should go ahead and write the story themselves (they never do). Fact is, I’ll be swamped with my own ideas for the rest of my life … but that’s not the point.

The two most essential elements for a writer are discipline and stamina. Only then come craft and talent. You can learn the craft and you can become a reliable, prolific writer without being the most talented one. But you will never be a true writer unless you have the aforementioned discipline and stamina.

Start writing. Now! Write every day – develop the discipline of writing daily – write your manuscript, finish it, write the next one, finish it, write the next one, finish it. Finishing is important! Most of those people with "great ideas" won't EVER finish a story. By constantly writing you’ll grow your writing muscle and your body of work. You'll also increase your stamina, you'll start to believe in yourself.

People will hurls all sorts of stuff at you - mostly rejection. But if writing has become an essential part of you, nothing will be able to stop you. All the talent in the world won’t help you unless you have the discipline and the stamina to deliver on the promise of your talent. So - you have the stamina to swim across the Atlantic? You have the discipline of a world class Olympic athlete? Good - start writing then ... always.

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