Goodreads asked Erin Judge:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Erin Judge First of all, write! You don't have to write every day. (In fact, it's a common and harmful myth that doing so -- and only doing so -- makes you a "real" writer.) Just keep getting back to it as often as you can. Let your process reveal itself to you. Don't try to emulate anyone else's.

Play with different forms and formats. Personally, I write novels, essays, scripts, screenplays, society and culture content, and random stuff for my blog. I also write by hand for myself in a regular journal and a separate blank book that's reserved for free-writes and nonsense and doodles and crayon drawings, whatever I want. Sitting with that second one really opens me up creatively.

Also, consider your audience! If you set out to create something that's meaningful to others and strikes a chord, it's important to think about the reader's experience -- especially readers who may not be widely represented in media -- and not the opinion of the academy, or the canon, or the concerns of the gatekeepers of the publishing world. Put yourself in the mind of somebody discovering your words for the first time. Will they feel satisfied? Intrigued? Welcomed? Seen? I realize this is not every writer's approach, but it's definitely mine.

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