Collect books, even if you don't plan on reading them right away. Filmmaker John Waters has said, "Nothing is more important than an unread library."

If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running from it.

You're ready. Start making stuff.

The best advice is not to write what you know, it's to write what you like. Write the kind of story you like best - write the story you want to read. The same principle applies to your life and your career.

It sounds a little extreme, but in this day and age, if your work isn't online, it doesn't exist.

It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.

Don't worry about doing research. Just search.