Goodreads asked Candi Silk:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Candi Silk Give yourself permission to become a writer! Don’t be timid; freely give yourself the green flag to become a writer. That’s most important. Don’t wait for others to give their approval or permission; sometimes they don’t or won’t give it. Often family and friends are reluctant to enthusiastically encourage you. They may think writing is too risky for you or you’re not good enough to become a writer. That’s negative thinking; don’t listen to it. Remember, you gave yourself permission to write. Grab your pen and paper (well of course a keyboard if you have one) and write your story. But your family and friends might not like your story? Doesn’t matter. You’re writing first, for yourself, and second, for all your readers around the globe.

However, go back and read the first sentence of my answer. Notice what the word permission leads to; that’s right, it leads to the word become. You’re not giving yourself permission to become famous and arrogant, or a bestseller and a celebrity. That will come later after you “become” a quality writer. The process of “becoming” is a writing journey and entails many exciting adventures, e.g. learning the craft of writing, you know, stuff like composing good sentences, realistic dialogue, juggling adjectives and adverbs, paragraph breaks, scenes, plot structure, formatting, revision and editing, and other interesting stuff. Those elements, along with your story ideas and imagination, are used to produce a story you’ll be proud of, and your readers will fall in love with. So, what are you waiting for? Permission, pen, paper, publish. Repeat often, and enjoy becoming a writer!

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