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Goodreads asked Alma Anonas-Carpio:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Alma Anonas-Carpio Don't. Write. It is addictive. I have been addicted to writing from the age of eight. It is torture and it is its own ultimate reward. If you don't have the chops to handle rejection on a regular basis, don't write.

Now, if you've already gone past the point of no return on that Yellow Brick Road, then write. Write like you don't give a damn. Then read what you've written and eat your feelings. After that, edit with no mercy. Edit like that piece you wrote was written by someone else, someone you have no intention of taking pity on.

Satisfy your own highest standards before you EVEN think of releasing that wild thing you wrote out into the world. Then, when you've exhausted yourself, share it and brace for the impact of the feedback you'll get. Embrace the criticism of your work, accept it as a learning tool. Take what criticism you can use and discard what you can't.

Then repeat the process. Over and over again for as long as you want to be a writer.

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