Goodreads asked Alexander Clement:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Alexander Clement I've been asked this a few times before. There's so much to say it's difficult to boil it down into easy steps. The critical thing is to not give up. Keep believing in yourself and your work. Don't let detractors and haters put you off and never, ever let rejections from publishers and agents worry you. Carry on regardless, it will happen. Most authors advise writing about things you know and I agree with this. I would add, though, that if you want to write about a subject you have little or no knowledge of, hit the books and do plenty of research. Become an expert and it will inform your writing. Plan first before launching into a novel, try to resist the temptation to write without doing a bit of preparation. But don't plan too minutely or you'll lose the spark. Leave enough open to chance and let the story and characters surprise you a little.

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