Finally, we come to the last part of the advice I give to new writers and this too is one that gets generally ignored to their own detriment.
The simple fact is, a book you never finish is a book that you failed at. You can edit anything but an empty page. This is a problem for a lot of people and a lesson that most need to take to heart. So never give up, never surrender and get your ass back to work.
This is something that, surprising, is met with a lot of apprehension by a lot of prospective authors. Time and again, I have seen people argue that they don’t like to read, they shouldn’t have to read and they absolutely reject reading for bizarre rationalizations that make no sense whatsoever under observation. The simple fact is, if you are not a voracious reader, you will never be a good writer. You learn to write primarily by reading. If you’re not willing to do that, give up now.
