Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter... — William Faulkner

Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.

Author: William Faulkner

Insight: Most people think good writing requires finding your unique voice first—but Faulkner flips it: you become a writer by basically stealing techniques from everything around you, then trusting your gut to know what works. It's less "find yourself" and more "absorb everything, fail loudly, repeat."

Source: Lion in the Garden: Interviews with William Faulkner, 1926-1962, p. 255