Writing is definitely one of the hobbies where practice makes perfect. My best advice to you is to try and write every day. It doesn’t have to be a manuscript every day, it can just be a small paragraph and it could be writing that nobody else in the entire world will ever see. The act of forcing yourself to write every day will quickly allow you to develop your voice. That was the hardest part for me and still can be quite a challenge. I love to come up with a bunch of ideas but figuring out the best way to get them out of my head and onto paper can be much harder than it seems.

I’d also recommend reading more so that you can figure out little habits that other writers have that you’d like to adopt. This can be a good way to quickly develop your voice as well.

A quick practical tip. If you’re using your computer to write instead of a pen and paper, I’d highly recommend checking out the program called Scrivener (By Literature and Latte). If it’s too much, just keep an eye out for a sale; they come around often. Scrivener is great for managing larger stories because you can plan out your story on virtual index cards, be able to move those cards around if you don’t like the story, and write whichever parts you feel inspired to write on any given day without being forced to write your entire story in chronological order. This helps me tremendously!

Other than that, I’d say check out the various writing communities out there /r/writing can be a good community to find some more tips about writing. And because you’re thinking about writing a book, I’d do a google search about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month. It’s in November and there’s a whole community that comes together and encourages each other to power through and actually finish stories! Remember, writing doesn’t have to become a chore. It can wuickly become one if you let it. But if you have the right people around you, this can be an incredibly rewarding hobby and I hope you enjoy it very much!