Goodreads asked Jonathan Maas:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Jonathan Maas 1) Just do it

2) Don't listen to anyone else, just do it

3) Start a project with a definitive end date in mind. One novel, one short story, get it done, and put it somewhere, either self-published or in a blog.

Don't be the guy or girl who 'isn't ever quite done with their novel.' Be the person who 'has [some completed project] up [somewhere], and is currently working on their next thing.'

The most important step here is 'to get one thing up.' Want to be a novelist? Get that first one up. Even if it isn't your best work, just get it up so you 'at least have one.' Lionel Shriver wrote 7 books before she hit it big with 'We Need to Talk About Kevin':

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

You don't need to write 7. You do however need to write one, be it a novel, short story, graphic novel, screenplay or anything else. You need to write your first thing, have it 100% done and readable somewhere, and that will free you to start writing the next one.

4) For your first book (or any book thereafter), pick the most fertile/easy premise you can imagine. Look at JK Rowling. She made it easy on herself by incorporating monsters we already know (unicorns and werewolves), being able to add monsters she made up (dementors), having a school were there is always a 'hidden room' to give the plot a kick in the butt ... and a hundred other things.

Make is as easy as possible at first. Writing something fertile and easy is more important for your first project than 'writing what you know.'

5) All you really need in this business is time. Find a way to schedule quality time to write (i.e. non-tired, repeatably scheduled time). As a working parent, I write on the bus to and from work. That's my time.

If you don't have time, you need to make it!

For more ideas on how to make time:

http://jonmaas.com/home/2014/08/27/ei...

6) One more powerful quote from Ira Glass:

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/3094...

In short, plow through your bad writing. You're writing, and that means you probably have good taste in writing. You'll get frustrated because your writing can't compare your heroes John Updike, Chinua Achebe or JK Rowling.

The successful writers ignore the impulse to quit, and keep plowing ahead. Get through that initial 'suckiness,' for lack of a better word, and keep writing.

If you do so, you'll eventually 'get it acceptable,' and then you'll 'get it right.' Finally, you'll get to the point where you'll express some ideas that Updike, Achebe and Rowling never did, and that will make the journey worthwhile.

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