William Faulkner, a Nobel Prize-winning American author and considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, once said,

The writer’s only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely ruthless if he is a good one.

There are life lessons in everything. And sometimes the biggest life lessons are found in the least expected places. Here are the 12 Life Lessons I’ve learned, so far, from watching American Idol.

Laura Miller at Salon.com offers writers advice on how to write better fiction.

Toni Morrison said, when she started writing, “It was as though I had nothing left but my imagination. I wrote like someone with a dirty habit. Secretly. Compulsively. Slyly.”

Would you describe yourself as courageous? Probably not. Not many of us do. Yet courage is an attribute that I think all artists, writers and creative types must develop in order to create, revise, and ultimately launch their creations out into the world.

Let’s face it; life has a way of bending, stretching and compressing us, even when we do our best to avoid it. Resiliency is a trait that can be helpful to everyone on the planet. But it can be especially helpful to writers, artists, and creative types.

With all the complaining that goes on about the publishing industry, editors, and literary agents, I wanted to share with you some good news: there are still kind, effective literary agents out there who care about writers and want to nurture writer’s careers.

So many times our New Year’s resolutions lack the vitality that we need for them to take root in us and so many times we’re unsuccessful with them.

What if your New Year’s resolutions were strictly about adding vitality to your life? See the list of resolutions you may want to try.

One thing that it is commonly agreed upon at writer’s and artist’s conferences and books about craft is that those who somehow make it in the art and book world are those who possess one trait above all others: perseverance.

Advice for Aspiring Writers from Alice Munro, a woman about whom Cynthia Ozick wrote, “She is our Chekhov, and is going to outlast most of her contemporaries.”