Colum McCann once scrapped 18 months of work, calling it the most liberating moment of his career. That’s exactly the kind of candid (and reassuring) insight you find in his book of writing advice, Letters to a Young Writer. I’ve ready it many times and these are my highlights.

Covet failure. That’s how you learn and get better. Teachers can facilitate and even motivate you, but nobody can teach you how to write. Experience does that. And yes, you will be torn to shreds at some point. It’s inevitable – and it will sting – but it will make you sharper.

The amount you cut is more important than the amount you write. What happens is less important than how it happens. Why? Because the way words are weaved together is more important than the information they convey.

Writing requires stamina. You need to be able to put your butt in the seat when it’s the last thing you want to do. It can feel like a “constant rehearsal for a performance that might never arrive”. That frustration is par for the course when you want something to be good.

“Give yourself permission. You have something to write about. Just because it’s narrow doesn’t mean it’s not universal.” – Colum McCann

Writing a novel is a long process. There will be dead ends and parts that don’t work. This is normal. Never frame these things as a waste. Everything you’ve done so far is preparation for what you’re about to do. “Even after it’s written, it still has to be finished.”

There’s a difference between writing what you know and writing toward what you want to know. It’s about exploring. Readers want to be taken to another place. In guiding them there, you can discover new things yourself. Not knowing exactly where it will all lead is a good thing.

Read, read, read. You can’t sustain your own writing without it. Challenging works provide even better nourishment because agile reading makes for elastic writing. Study your contemporaries “fiercely and jealously”. Let that fuel your desire, but don’t get hung up on it.

You’re not in competition with anyone but yourself. A book deal for someone else doesn’t mean one less opportunity for you. Only spend your energy on your work. “The success or failure of others will not make a new sentence appear from your fingertips.”

Quality writing is built on thorough research. Collect little details that only experts would know. Carry a notebook. Jot down images, ideas, sounds, and snippets of speech as you notice them. Attention to detail has a cumulative effect that elevates your work.