You have to believe in yourself and only trust your own vision and instincts. If I'd listened to what other people thought about my work in the first 10 years that I was a writer, I never would have made it to begin with.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
As a writer, you need a strong sense of self-belief. And when it comes to writing, I've always had that.
I focus on the writing and let the rest of the process take care of itself. I've learned to trust my own instincts and I've also learned to take risks.
It gives me confidence to know that what I'm writing has a veracity of its own without me having to invent it. When I'm writing fiction, I must believe it to be true, or I can see no point in it.
You never know if you're a writer. You can't trust it. If you woke up and said, 'I'm a writer,' it would be gone. You wouldn't see anything for miles - even the dust would be running away.
Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often far more accurate than you are willing to believe.
As a novelist, where do you go to tap into memories, and impressions, and sensations? It's usually, in my experience, your early life, before you started thinking of yourself as a writer, because somehow those experiences are unadulterated.
The hard truth is that there are people who believe they're writers and work hard at it and are sincere about it, but they don't make it. You have to be prepared for that possibility.
Part of being a fiction writer is being able to imagine how someone else is thinking and feeling. I think I've always been good at that.
I've never thought of myself as a writer. I still don't, despite all the writing I've done.
I don't believe in writer's block or waiting for inspiration. If you're a writer, you sit down and write.