Because eff it…who am I? What the heck do I know? To quote Robert De Niro in "This Boy’s Life": Pal, what you don’t know would fill a book.

So this is it. Are you ready? It’s oh-so-simple, and oh-so-easy to forget. Here it is.

Bring the fun in.

That was it. Did it blow your mind? Of course not. But it’s all I’ve got, and it’s the piece of advice I most need to follow. Look, writing is hard. It wrings you out in its best moments. And it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind that is social networking, and getting deals, and hearing about other people’s deals, and market expectations, and reader expectations, and what everyone else is doing. Sure, that’s one interesting whirlwind, but if you’re in front of your computer one day and realize you want to bang your head against the screen and break all the bones in your fingers…Don’t. Stop. Bring the fun in.

That’s when you love it. That’s when it’s worth it. Will it make your writing better? Maybe. I have no idea if it made mine better. The Girl From Hell might go off to the editor next month and be promptly declared garbage. Could happen. But it could’ve happened if I’d hated writing the whole thing, too.

So next time a scene is trying to kill you, crank the tunes. Laugh maniacally. Dance, if no one’s watching. Or even if they are; whatever floats your boat.