People write for different reasons, but my answer is directed to aspiring writers who are haunted by the necessity to write, who think about writing all the time, maybe even decades, before they actually write that first novel.

If you're serious about writing, I offer three major recommendations: 1) Read great writers (old and new) and learn why they are great. Read what other qualified writers and critics have to say about quality fiction. Take classes, attend lectures, listen to tapes (I love the Great Courses CD's on Literature taught by some of the top professors in the country);

2) Get feedback on your writing from people who understand what good writing is (don't take too much stock in what family and friends say, unless they are serious readers), either from other writers, professors, or writing groups. Measure your work against the recommendations and insights of books written by qualified critics or teachers (e.g., "Stein on Writing," "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers," etc.);

3) Treat your writing with the utmost respect. Hemingway thought of writing as a kind of bleeding. If you're going to bleed, make it count. Reach high. Don't settle for less than your best. It took me three months to write the first draft of the novel I just published, Mr. Galaxy's Unfinished Dream. It took me fifteen more months to rewrite and revise it before I felt that I had done all I could do to make it good.