One of the great pulp writers Florida, and actually America, ever produced, John D. MacDonald (best known for The Executioners, filmed twice as Cape Fear) knew about determination, productivity, rejection, and making a living somehow on what strangers thought about the words he typed on a page.

As such, his advice to young writers deserves a listen:

Most beginners think that writing is a quick ticket to some kind of celebrity status, to broads and talk shows. Those with that shallow motivation can forget it. Here’s how it goes. Take a person 25 years old. If that person has not read a minimum of three books a week since he or she was ten years old, or 2,340 books—comic books not counted—and if he or she is not still reading at that pace or preferably, at a greater pace, then forget it. If he or she is not willing to commit one million words to paper—ten medium-long novels—without much hope of ever selling one word, in the process of learning this trade, then forget it. And if he or she can be discouraged by anyone in this world from continuing to write, write, write—then forget it…

h/t CrimeReads