Amber Royer
Study the craft. The more you learn about plot structure and characterization, the stronger your stories will be. Study people and study psychology. Because that is the heart of any story.
Read widely -- but don't hurt yourself with harsh comparisons of your work to that of your favorite authors, especially when you are first starting out. You wouldn't walk into your first day of art class and expect to paint like Rembrandt. But you might expect to study Rembrandt, and copy the masters to learn technique. Do the same with your reading -- not literally copying out passages from your faves, but by testing techniques to see what works for you, as you develop your own voice..
Read widely -- but don't hurt yourself with harsh comparisons of your work to that of your favorite authors, especially when you are first starting out. You wouldn't walk into your first day of art class and expect to paint like Rembrandt. But you might expect to study Rembrandt, and copy the masters to learn technique. Do the same with your reading -- not literally copying out passages from your faves, but by testing techniques to see what works for you, as you develop your own voice..
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