I always loved reading successful author’s biographies rather than their books. I think their journey taught me more about writing than reading their works. And in this article, I gathered ten valueable pieces of advice from renowned authors to inspire your writing journey.

1. Write Every Day – Stephen King

Stephen King, one of the most famous writers of our time, advises, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

There are days I simply face the blank screen of my text editor and start typing with no idea of what I’m doing. Sometimes I get a good piece of text by the end of the day; other times I just finish my work staring at a mess of words that make no sense. It’s like a gamble to me, and I noticed I’ve been way more successful keeping a steady pace. There are days I learn how to write and others how I should not do it. Everything adds to my learning process. So start writing! Don’t you have any specific idea in mind? No problem! Write about everything, describe the actions you took during the day, how the day looks to your eyes, etc. This way, you’ll eventually get something good to start working on.

2. Read Widely –- William Faulkner

Faulkner emphasized the importance of reading: “Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it.”

Despite writing fantasy, I love reading nonfiction books. I think reality is the matrix of all fantasy, and it helps me greatly reading solid books about history, philosophy, and even politics. When I read such books, I can’t help but let my mind play around with the facts I’m learning from them and try to re-imagine them in a whimsical way. A lot of my ideas for fantasy came this way, just by “de-boring” reality.

3. Kill Your Darlings – William Faulkner & Stephen King

Both Faulkner and King have advised writers to “kill your darlings.”

That means deleting your favorite sentences or passages for clarity and coherence. I had to do it many times. There was a point when editing my book that I deleted about 1/3 of it at once and wrote everything again (more about it here), and numerous times I had to delete passages I loved, but that added more confusion than clarity to the whole context. “Kill your darlings” may feel like cutting off a rotten limb so you can survive. The same applies to storytelling; sometimes it will be better off without that poetic block of text, but that’s toxic regarding the best comprehension of the whole context.

4. Show, Don’t Tell – Anton Chekhov

Chekhov famously said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

Every time I’m writing, I keep in mind I’m writing a novel and not a newspaper. So I’m always looking for ways to make the description of what is happening more interesting and engaging. Yeah, there’s extra work involved in doing that, but that is my job and yours too. Besides that, I think it’s really fun to stretch my imagination and see the same scene from as many angles as possible, and then I pick the best one to show to my reader. However, sometimes a little bit of telling is necessary, but it should be used very carefully, and just when doing otherwise would result in adding 500 words to your text just to describe a sunset.

5. Write What You Know – Mark Twain

Mark Twain advised, “Write what you know.”

You are the only person who can tell a story in a unique way—your way! That’s because your experiences, emotions, and observations are unique. So draw from them, and you’ll tell a story that is authentic and relatable. “Be yourself; only you can do it.” I always keep that in mind, and you should, too. So embrace your experiences and translate them into words, paragraphs, and pages. This way you’ll be able to feel safe while telling a story that only you can.

6. Embrace the First Draft – Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway famously said, “The first draft of anything is garbage.”

If you expect to get a masterpiece as the result of your first draft, well, you’ll feel disappointed. So don’t stress over perfection in the beginning. The most important thing is to get words on the page—editing and refining come later. As you work on it, it’ll get better and better. It may take time, but the matter is that your first kick is there; it just needs to be worked on.

7. Keep It Simple – George Orwell

Orwell believed in clear and concise writing. He advised, “Never use a long word where a short one will do.”

If you speak more than one language like me, you should have noticed that the English language has a lot of short words for basically anything. And when the English language has a long word, people make it shorter. Congrats to them! So, use short words to make your text easier for the mind and eyes of your readers.

8. Find Your Own Voice – Neil Gaiman

Gaiman urges writers to be authentic: “Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there will always be better writers than you, but you are the only you.”

We already talked a little bit about it. And if we have another successful author giving the same advice, it is because it’s important! Your personality is priceless. Your perspective on things is unique. So weaponize then in your favor.

9. Write Without Fear, Edit Without Mercy – Cheryl Strayed

Writing is an act of courage. Strayed’s advice reminds us to write freely in the first draft and edit rigorously later. The editing process is where your work truly comes to life, and it’s beautiful to observe the whole process and a little scary to compare the final result to the initial draft. However, you’ll feel extremely proud to see how much better your story got. But to accomplish that, you’ll have to be merciless with your “darlings.” So bite the bullet and do it.

10. Keep Going No Matter What – Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

If you want motivation to keep writing, just imagine the world and all the readers that will never see your book, characters, plots, etc. If this world you imagine is the one you don’t want to live in, so keep up the good work! The world needs to hear your voice, and there are millions of unknown readers waiting to read your book.

Final Thoughts

Writing is both an art and a craft that improves with practice. By following the wisdom of these successful authors, you can hone your skills, build confidence, and create meaningful stories that resonate with readers. Keep writing, keep learning, and most importantly—never give up!

Do you have or follow another specific advice when it comes to writing? Feel free to post it here in the comment section below! Happy writing!