Goodreads asked Sarah Gerdes:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Sarah Gerdes 1. don't let the negativity and skepticism of others get you down. No one, and I do mean, no one in my circle of friends or family gave me a positive response when I began writing fiction. (The non-fiction doesn't count because I had a job and career that lent itself to my first book published by McGraw-Hill). When it came to fiction, it was another matter entirely. Keep your head down, focus and write. You will prove them wrong (as I did!)
2. when and if you feel stalled, use 100 days of creative writing. A great inspirational tool that was pivotal when I was starting out (I include this in my book for authors). I also use the analogy its like you are a pilot in a plane that has stalled out. The pilot doesn't give up and hit the Earth. The pilot keeps flying and gets the plane out of the dive. That's what authors do--we keep writing until we get ourselves out of the stall.

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