Goodreads asked Michele Pariza Wacek:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Michele Pariza Wacek It depends on what sort of aspiring writer you are. If you're an aspiring writer who loves to talk about writing (or even join writer's groups and hang out with other writers and talk about writing and their "big project") but you don't actually sit down and do any writing, my advice is to have an honest come to Jesus conversation with yourself. In fact, I would take it one step further and ask yourself this: If you couldn't answer the question "why aren't I writing" by saying "because I don't have time" what would be your answer?

Alas, "I don't have time" is not an acceptable answer. (Did you realize Mary Higgens Clark was a single mom with 5 kids and a full time job when she wrote her first book? She got up at 4 am to write every morning. And she's not the only successful writer to somehow carve out time to write with insanely busy schedules.) I have a friend who wrote the book "Get it Done" where she talks about working on your project for 15 minutes a day. (I've tried it and it actually does work.) If you're serious about writing, you'll find the time, even if it's only 15 minutes a day.

Now, if you're an aspiring writer who has completed some books and is looking to get published, my advice would be to not only continue writing and perfecting your craft, but also learn about marketing and platform building and start focusing on that. Even if a traditional publisher ends up taking you on, if you don't have a platform or know how to market yourself, you still aren't going to sell many books.

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