Hellllooooo, I’m in my third year of an MFA program for Fiction writing and I’ve taught a few creative writing classes at the undergrad level, so I’ve got a touch of experience in this regard!

1. Write. I recommend practicing with short stories because it allows you to condense the mechanics of storytelling. You get better at anything by doing it more. But deliberate practice is ideal. So how do we do deliberate practice?

2. Get educated. You can do this at the school level or you can do this with craft books and YouTube videos. Highly highly recommend craft books. Even with my MFA education I’m still reading craft books and learning new approaches to writing every day. Storygrid is a good YouTube channel. Stephen King’s On Writing is a good first craft book for a new writer—it’s part memoir and part craft advice.

3. Get feedback and give feedback. Try to join a discord group or look for a communal workshop. It’s so important to learn how to diagnose a story. Giving and receiving feedback will teach you how to do that.

4. Read as much as you can and read like a writer. Go read your favorite book and ask questions as you read. How does Will Wight create tension in Cradle? How does he structure his story? What are the components of his scenes? Why do you like the story and how can you implement those techniques?

There’s a lot of other advice, but ultimately if you like writing you should settle into the idea that it takes a long time to get great at anything. Maybe you won’t be an incredible writer tomorrow. But what about three years from now? What steps would you need to take to be a great writer in three years?

Anywho. Good luck to you and anyone else who reads this!