Historically, my mom (Penelope Niven) wrote very long books. At least three of them exceed 800 pages. Now, there is the rare exception when a book needs to be that long. However, most books do not. One of my high school teachers used to jot "pure economy of word" across the top of my essays, and I've never forgotten it. There's power in writing succinctly.

You need to be invested in your story, in your characters, in the world you are creating. If you aren’t interested in it, how do you expect your readers to be? And how do you expect to keep at it on the most frustrating writing days? Write something you don’t want to give up on. I love to play with multiple project ideas at a time until I find the one that sticks—the one that haunts me, that follows me around throughout the day and night, that won’t let me go. Write that one, even if it intimidates you.

Reading opens your mind, shows you what's out there, and gives you ideas. That said, you have to be careful what you read when in the throes of writing because the last thing you want to do is become an unintentional mimic. (High school Jennifer, I'm talking to you. Stop reading so much Ray Bradbury!) Even though I love YA literature, I almost never read it anymore because I’m too busy writing it.

Years ago, I was on a call with a bank, and the automated voice said, "Please enter your pin. Do not enter all the pin numbers at one time." New writers often ask the secret to writing a book because the idea of creating something so long is daunting. I tell them not to focus on the entire book because it will only overwhelm you. Instead, focus on one line or chapter at a time. Think about something as simple and routine as taking a walk—you don’t take all the steps at once, otherwise you’ll fall over. You take them one step at a time. It’s the same with writing. You don’t have to write your entire story in one day. Instead, you take it one pin number at a time.

Back when I was eight, my mom would hand me a stack of paper and I'd write until I ran out of pages. I would simply finish the story, no matter where I was in it (which made for some very rushed endings). Part of the challenge of writing is actually showing up to do the work. Two of the writers who have most inspired me in my life are Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA. As Benny says, “I’m a 9 to 5 man. I have to sit here and wait for the good notes to sort of come from somewhere. And if I’m not here, they’re not going to come. It’s like there’s a dragon in a cave, right? And you know it’s in there but it’s never coming out so you have to sit outside and wait for it. And you know that if you sit there long enough it’s going to come out.”

Try giving yourself a daily quota, no matter how big or small, by counting the pages or words. Personally, I don’t count pages or words, but I do set myself daily deadlines along the lines of I will, at the very least, finish the rough draft of two chapters and do some light edits on the chapter that preceded them. Anything beyond that daily deadline is bonus writing.

You need to be willing to let yourself cry (or laugh or feel), because if you don't cry/laugh/feel while writing your story, how do you expect your reader to? When you are writing, do not write with anyone over your shoulder because it will only freeze you up and make you self-conscious. Instead tell yourself that the only thing that exists in the world is you and the blank page and then give yourself permission to let it all out.

Don't worry about being perfect because there's no such thing. I know many talented writers who don't finish projects. The reason? At some point they become paralyzed by trying to make it perfect. You have to be able to write garbage and leave it alone. Once you're done with a draft, you can go back, dig in, and make it all sing. As Björn Ulvaeus says, “It takes a lot of hard work to get rid of the rubbish in order to see what’s really, really good. In order to hear it. And that takes time.”

There comes a time in a book's life, once the big edits are done, when it's easy to fret about every comma and word choice. This was always my mother's cue to say, "Am I going to have to fly out to California and take the book away from you?" At some point—when you have given all you can to the book and been over it and over it— you have to let the book be read by other people.

There are so many reasons not to write. Writers are great at finding every excuse under the sun — I don't have enough time/energy/inspiration, I'll never be able to write anything good. But my mom always told me, “To write well, to do anything well, you have to be able to breathe." Remember that much of writing is play. Don't forget to enjoy it.

When you're pouring your heart onto the page, you don't always think about the people in the world who are waiting to read your stories and maybe hate them and say critical or even untrue things about them in print. You have to be able to let yourself cry (see number six) and you also have to be able to — as Taylor Swift sings — shake it off. As I tell new authors, while you are writing it, the book belongs to you. Once it is out in the world, it belongs to the reader.

Things (such as life) will always get in the way of writing, but you need to learn to compartmentalize. My mom wrote in her memoir, Swimming Lessons, "When I write, I write — focusing on that act as if it were all in the world I had to do.” Even if you only have ten minutes to write, write as if it’s the only thing in the world you have to do.

Every book Mom and I have written was a story we wanted to read. Write what inspires you, whatever that may be. Write what you love.