When people ask me for advice on writing I tell them to go buy Stephen King's book "On Writing" and leave me alone. When that doesn't work, I tell them this; Writing is a craft. As with any craft you need to know, and understand, all the nuances. So go write a press release, a technical paper, a sample legal brief, a newspaper article, a short film script, something out of your genre. Do the last one more than once in different genres. Make sure you format your work to the specifications of each industry (there are free sample templates all over the internet) and, no matter what, write every day.
Believe it or not, I take my own advice. This has led to me having a political horror story coming out in a couple of months and working on comic books. As a writer I would strongly suggest any writer interested in fantasy or sci-fi write for a comic book. The skill set is wildly different from anything else. In a film, or play, script you can leave settings to the director's imagination. The same applies to fiction in general, just substitute "reader" for "director." You can not do that in a comic. The artist needs to know exactly what the hell you want. You'll also learn why comics are done in pencil first. Things that seemed like great ideas when written can, easily, look like you suffer from brain damage.
Trust me on this one. I damaged my brain a lot when I first tried to do it.
Anyway, this year, for you comic fans, watch for the mature rated Legends Parallel and His 7 Valkeries and then watch for the kids' books Clarity Girl and Jax & Claus.
Yes, I wrote a Christmas story.
No, really. It's cute too.
Still, buy King's book. It's the most useful guide I've ever read.
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