for the newbies and the proto-professionals:

[lagilman]

Brilliant advice from Jim Butcher:

"There is an enormous weedout factor for wannabe writers. The good news is that you aren't competing with every published schmoe out there. You're only up against the rest of the wannabes, and it's like the old axiom about being chased by a grizzly bear. You don't have to run faster than the bear to get away. You just have to run faster than the guy next to you."

Is true. You don't compete against the Known Published World. You compete against your own weight class. Okay, so it's not 100% true. It's true enough to live by.

And now I have to go and put down some more words. Words words words words...