Goodreads
Goodreads asked Otho Eskin:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Otho Eskin Read lots of books and then try to forget them so you don’t copy them. A while back, I devoured Lee Child’s Reacher books. But I found it was difficult to find my own voice. I was imitating Child’s. I had to let the books fade from my mind before I could do my own writing.

Another piece of advice is to know what publishers want. You can learn this by reading within your genre. Take note of the conventions, such as the pacing, structure of chapters, character types, and themes. Finally, have a character that interests you and the reader. You have to like your main character, as you’ll be spending so much time with this figure!

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