Amanda Lewis

Garth Greenwell, author of the award-winning novel What Belongs to You, recently gave the commencement speech to the graduates of the writers’ seminar at Bennington College. Here are his seven rules for “making it” as a writer (without losing yourself in the process).

1. Hold your friends close.
2. Comparison is the devil.
3. Envy doesn’t matter.
4. The content changes, but the anxiety remains the same.
5. Not writing is the only failure that matters.
6. Read everything.
7. Remember the real life of literature.