I earned my writing stripes with a large man's shoebox overflowing with rejection slips... more than 100 before I got my first, 'Yes, we want this,' accompanied by a check.

Don't talk about writing. Write. Don't show unfinished work to anyone. Don't show finished work to non-writers. Get your opinions, not from friends and family, but by sending your work out to editors. An endless stream of rejection slips means you need to learn more. So learn more.

By 17, I was submitting to publications and collecting my first rejection slips.

Anything designed to be inoffensive isn't worth your time -- life itself is pretty offensive, ending as it does with death.

My 20s were a blizzard of rejection slips.

Writing is a puzzle you'll spend your lifetime unlocking. You will never know it all; you will never know enough. You can always be better, and figuring out how to be better is part of the thrill and joy of the job.