General Writing Guidelines
Edit, proofread, copyedit, and do it all again.
Work out how much time you can spend writing per day and then how many pages you can realistically produce each day. Then write until you finish that number of pages.
And stick to that.
Make the time to write. We all have waste time when you could be writing (like right now for me) so there are no excuses why you can't rearrange your schedule and create time to write.
Know the general direction you want your story to go. It's bad to start "rambling" halfway through a book.
Know what to cut.
Read like a maniac
Write like a maniac
Show what you've written to other people and don't rip their heads off if they don't automatically love it.
Never think you can't get better.
Occasionally you will hear a little inner voice which says "I have written a book: I am a god." IGNORE IT!
To quote the man who is King (Stephen king):
"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time, or the tools, to write." Chew through books, good and bad.
Your first book will suck. Period. It may have taken you two years to write, you may have put your soul into it, yadda yadda yadda,it's stil lyour first book. Everybody's first ANYTHING sucks to some degree. first cooking project, first movie, first painting, etc. etc. the first time is practice, and you may have to kill it when it's done. That doesn't eman you can't rewrite it later, but be warned: don't expect perfection the first time through.
Allow room for improvement and be humble about your writing. (If not, you'll get a big reality check really soon if you enter a serious writing community and try to showcase your writing).
Don't fall for vanity presses (places which publish your work for a price, asking you to buy anthologies and other useless stuff).
Write for yourself and not for other people. Writing is a very personal thing and should stay that way.
Don't let writing intimidate you or leave you with self-doubt.
Learning never stops. Learn all you can about the language you plan to write in. Grammar, syntax, etc. Also, learn about literary devices.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Stumbling along the way is all part of the fun. And people learn from their mistakes, well, at least they're supposed to.
Writing is a craft, not a talent. Stick that in your head, and you will see yourself get better everyday!
