If you're thinking about becoming a professional writer, assess your temperament as well as your talent. A classic editor's statement -- "We don't reject writers; we reject pieces of paper with typing on them" "Don't stay mad and decide you are the victim of incompetence and stupidity. If you do, you'll learn nothing and you'll never become a writer. ... Don't make the opposite mistake and decide the story is worthless. Have good judgment, the way not to learn is to assume that friends who say "you're simply great''. Analyse yourself and your writeups.Young writers need critical ones- true friends, teachers and editors who are willing to make them cry , hard to find in this age of emphasizing self-esteem rather than offering tough honesty.
In the words of Mark Twain's way of discerning a calling is best: "Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon his circumstances with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for."
Ptahotep noted, "Happy is the heart of him who writes; he is young each day." Yes, but only if he writes from the heart
Do believe in your writing.Overall, it's important to emphasize quality rather than quantity: Better to have one telling bit of specific detail than 12 nothings
• Content and style need to go together.
• Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
• Never use a long word where a short word will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
• Never use the passive where you can use the active.
• Pick up every sentence in turn, asking ourselves if we can possibly make it shorter.
• "Look for the clutter in your writing, and prune it ruthlessly.
• Be grateful for everything you can throw away.
• Re-examine each sentence that you put on paper.
• Is every word doing new work? ... Simplify. Simplify."
• Vigorous writing is concise.
• A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.
• Look for all fancy wordings, and get rid of them.
• Evocative images, provocative thoughts, tension without pretension -- that's what makes for good writing.



