Dear Me (Bob Krech)

Dear Me,

Here are a few things you should know to be a productive, happy writer.

*Read outside of your interests. You can learn a lot and you may find a new avenue for yourself.

*You don’t need experience with any particular writing genre or assignment. Just jump in. Believe you can do it until proven otherwise.

*Be kind and accommodating to everyone you meet during the writing/publishing process, but also be firm about things that are important to you.

*Be patient with everyone and in all things.

*Respect editors’ opinions, but respect readers’ more.

*Believe in your work, but be open to other perspectives.

*You can get a lot done in a little bit of time. Amazingly, little scraps of time cobbled together add up to big chunk of writing.

*Observe everything and don’t be hesitant to ask questions about how things work and why things are a certain way.

*When you meet new people, ask them about their families. Soon the phone is out, pictures and stories are shared, and you learn a lot about people, which will inform your writing (and enrich your life!)

*Time is on your side.