“Read, read, read. Everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” —William Faulkner

Carry a notebook or if you must, a phone. In-between times, waiting online, waiting for a friend, waiting for anything, or commuting on public transportation, write. Look outside, look inside, eavesdrop on conversations, make a list of what you see, hear, taste, smell. Don’t try to make anything out of this stuff unless it’s going somewhere good and then go there.

Analyze your best practice. Silence? Music? Solitude? People? Long stretches uninterrupted, short bursts. What inspires you — nature, color, urban grit, exercise, conversation?

Honor your brain — make an outline or not. Read a poem, write a response. Take notes in your books. Doodle, annotate, move through a passage, engage. Static reading produces static writing. Go back to what inspired you once. Find what inspires you now.

Write constantly. Like running, swimming, skiing, or knitting, practice makes you a better writer. Gain consistency. Show kindness towards your slow pace, bad strokes, snowplow, and misshapen sweater. Without mistakes and awkward sentences there is nothing to make better.

Provides support and feedback

Forges a path towards revision

Asks essential questions

Understands your ultimate message

Provides ways to unblock and improve through exercises, editing, and honest, supportive advice.