Emma
Emma asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

Hi Jennifer! I am in LOVE with all your books, especially the ones that go back in ancient or medieval times. Your writing is the BEST!! You wrap me on the edge of each chapter, making me put the book down only when I've finished the whole series! I hope to be an amazing writer like you someday! No other books compare to yours. What were your struggles in writing your first books?

Jennifer A. Nielsen Hi Emma - thanks very much for the compliments!

When anyone begins writing seriously, the struggle is knowing whether you're any good - if you have any future as an author. Because at first, you don't know what you don't know, so what's on the paper looks pretty good. Then you get more practice and go back to that original writing and you can see how terrible it is, and that creates doubt about your talent.

So the trick is to understand that if you look at your earlier writing and you can see all the problems with it, that's a great sign. It means you are better than you were, and the next thing you write will be better than what you're doing now.

But writing is an art, and all art takes time and practice to learn. That was what I, and every other author, had to struggle through. And I'm still learning...

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