Live as a writer, yes—attend and participate in readings, take walks with a notebook in hand, read books by writers who inspire you—but also allow yourself moments in which you forget you’re a writer. Read for pleasure. Pursue activities or opportunities outside of the literary scene, and do things for the sake of doing them rather than with the hopes of finding inspiration for a future piece of writing. Being present in your day-to-day, and pursuing your passions outside of your literary aspirations, will make your writing more particular, specific, and textured when the time comes to sit and write. And when that time does come, be patient; writing is one of the few careers in which the passage of time is your friend. Try not to edit your work while you’re first writing it, and don’t let your excitement about a new piece cloud your judgement of whether it’s ready to submit. Allow the work to sit, then return to it every couple of weeks. While you were out and about living life, that piece has stayed the same—but the you of today might be able to enrich that piece in ways the you of last week could not.
—Rachel Dillon, managing editor, Ploughshares