Try to never stop writing. Keep getting to the desk. Get into a rhythm of regular, if possible, day writing. Some kind of discipline above all. Because when you stop it can be very hard to return. And it gets harder. “Back” doesn’t only relate to finding your footing again in life, it’s a metaphor for returning to yourself as a writer. I’ve written that poem too many times.

-Harry Newman, 20th Anniversary Issue

For the most part, I still consider myself on the learning end of writing, so any advice I have is surely advice that was given to me by someone much wiser and more experienced than I am. That being said, though, if there’s one thing that’s helped me immensely in my writing it’s getting into a daily habit, and having people around me that know my work and my style to offer constant critical feedback. Even if it’s small, setting a goal of writing a set number of words a day really does help the flow of ideas. I’m also a firm believer in the idea that you can’t really write a great story until you’ve written the bad version of it, so writing every day is another way of getting the bad out of your system so the good can start to poke through. And with regards to having people around, there’s really nothing that’s helped me learn and grow as a writer more than helpful, critical peer reviewers. Even if it’s over email, having another set of eyes to read your work and critically assess it for what it’s trying to do is essential to improving.

-Tyler Wilborn, 20th Anniversary Issue

“Your words are worth it.”

It’s too easy to say, “I’ll write when…” There is always something else you should or could be doing, but your words are important. If you intend to be a writer, then be a writer. As Theo Pauline Nestor writes in Writing Is My Drink, “What does it look like to give permission to ourselves [to write]?…It’s knowing that all the other stuff you need to do will get done. Or it won’t.” No one else is going to prioritize your work (and writing is work). You have to honor your words and give them the time they need. And you have to remind yourself to honor them every day.

-Heather Charton, 20th Anniversary Issue