25 Things Every Writer Should Know

Writers are usually smart people. The best of us read. And we read a lot. I mean, reading novels, matchboxes, the sides of buses... run away quickly if you meet a writer who doesn't read. There is no truth in him/her! Anyhoo...

Although we tend to be know-it-alls, we do not know it all. Gasp! And don't tell my husband I just wrote that because our sixteen-year relationship is built upon me knowing it all. But I don't, especially about my craft.

And I'm sure you don't. Don't be offended. You don't. And because we are all in this together, I'd like to share a post from a blog titled Terrible Minds that speaks gospel: 25 Things Every Writer Should Know.

My favorite is Number 13:

Cultivate Calluses

Put differently, harden the fuck up, soldier. (And beard the fuck on, while we’re at it.) The writing life is a tough one. Edits can be hard to get. Rejections, even worse. Not everybody respects what you do. Hell, a lot of people don’t even care. Build up that layer of blubber. Form a mighty exoskeleton. Expect to be pelted in the face with metaphorical (er, hopefully metaphorical) ice-balls. It’s a gauntlet. Still gotta walk it, though.


Are there other rules that you've discovered that aren't on this list?