Teenagers have told me that I got them through a bad year. Boy, it makes you feel fairly humble and a little scared when you realize you influence people when you tell a story. You have to take seriously the fact that you may change a life. And there are ethical questions when you're writing for kids. To read and to write.
Some writers have to be told to write.
They think their job is to meet agents and have experiences and they can just be rich and famous. Their job is to write. Some really don't realize that. And you can't write unless you read. Just read around and find the people you like.