There's a disease that young writers are susceptible to, which is, I will do this because I can - hubris, I suppose - without stopping to work out why.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
At the beginning, I experienced writing as a sort of constraint. Starting so young as a writer is pitiable: it's beyond your powers; you have to lay bare things that are very heavy, and you don't have the means for that.
Normally, young writers have all the time in the world and they don't always use it well.
Writing is taking a risk, and it is actually fighting invisible and invincible enemies. They are over-confidence, stupidity, expectation and narcissism.
I think all writers write from the time they're really young, and you just start asking the question, 'What if?'
If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.
You know you lose a lot of social skills if you're a writer. You spend too long alone. And its forced me to address that.
I think writing is an extension of a childhood habit - the habit of entertaining oneself by taking interesting bits of reality and building upon them.
I think the most dangerous influence for a young writer is to be treated with cynicism or discouragement.
It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, 'Read,' but a writer can read too much and be paralyzed. Or, 'Don't read, don't think, just write,' and the result could be a mountain of drivel.
If you want to know why all writers are a little crazy read 'The Midnight Disease' by Alice W. Flaherty. She talks about the drive to write, writer's block, and the creative brain. I know what's wrong with me!