When writers struggle to find their “voice” or their distinct “style,” the trouble they are having lies in a misunderstanding about prose writing itself. Writers should worry less about who they might sound like or who they should imitate—like Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness or Hemmingway’s brevity—and instead understand the effect they would like to have on the reader.

So when people ask me how I learned to write novels, I think back on the countless drafts I started and abandoned over the last ten years, the full-length novels that will never be published for profit, and my most recent novel blooming out of all that effort like the fruit at the top of a tree.

Take yourself out of it. When have you read a good novel and only cared about the social recognition or approval of the author? It’s the story we ultimately care about, not the social status of its author.

My friend looked at me and asked, “Where do all your ideas come from?”

So you want to write a book.

Kill your darlings is a saying for a reason. Sometimes deep down I know a dialogue exchange must be cut, or a descriptor must be deleted, or even an entire plot point needs to be given up. But to actually change it, to kill that version of the original manuscript, can be surprisingly emotional.

While writing original content is necessary to publish work and fanfiction is not always serious or perfectly written, it is a reminder for why you write in the first place—why writing is ultimately fun.

I wondered—but no. Who would read it? Then I thought, why not? Seven years later, I had over 1.5 million views and decided to self-publish it.