Is there any advice that you wish someone had given you?

All the people who say that I need to work on my writing, be critical, improve, polish, and work on it some more? Are right. Right, but not helpful to my career.

I'm *good* at telling myself that my writing needs more work. What I really could do with is more people saying 'you're doing something right, do more of it, trust in your instincts, finish the damn thing, and submit it already.' Encouraging humility is all very well... unless someone starts out highly self-critical and unable to appreciate the things they're doing right.