Goodreads asked Thomas Armstrong:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Thomas Armstrong You know, I'd say write every day, but I don't write every day, so what kind of advice would THAT be? It does help to have an obsessional quality to your personality - my mind gets a book idea and then like a dog at the other end of a game of tug rope, I just won't let go, even if years go by. It also helps to have some pathology - if everything has gone right in your life, then there's no dark material or conflict to heat things up. Oh yes, one other really big piece of advice: READ A LOT! And don't read mediocre writers - read the best writers that are out there. Fill your mind with the greatest writing voices of all time, and over time they will mingle and coalesce inside you, and out of that rich mixture will emerge your own authentic writer's voice (or voices if you do characters!).

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