Learn from reference, pick some of your favorite authors and see how they do, but for reference 1 or 2 won't be enough, you need to have a loooooooooot of different perspectives and learn as much as possible.

Read a lot and write a lot. Practice is everything, just like with anything else. Sure, there are general guides that help, but I personally think it won't work out unless you keep trying and get feedback.

If we go really basic, try to enrich your vocabulary (reading helps with that) and try only to write about things you really care about at first. Writing half-heartedly will only lead to scrapped works for a beginner.
Oh and perhaps try to write some shorter stories first. The really long ones tend to crumble away if you aren't fully committed.

In addition to reading a lot, I'll add that you should do it with a critical eye. Think of it as going backstage at the theatre, you get to see how the stage is put together and so on.

Also, don't only read stuff that's in your preferred genre. Read all kinds of stuff. Read both professional and amateur stuff. It'll all teach you someting, whether that's what to do or what not to do. Lately I've been going on Archive.org and looking up old pulp magazines from the 1940s and 50s, they're kind of amazing. Terrible in a lot of ways, but impressive in others, and writing pulp is a great way to learn about conflict.

As to more practical advice, here are a few tips.

• Plan things out. Spontenaity is all well and good, but at least plan out your scenes, dialogue, and so forth. Everything needs a purpose in the story. Personally, I use a spreadsheet to keep track, but do what works for you.
• Your first draft is going to be terrible, and that's just fine. It's supposed to be. Think of it the same way as a rough sketch. It's your second and third drafts that will tidy things up and make them shine. Allow yourself to be terrible the first time around, and yes, stray from your plan.
• Don't be afraid to dump things that aren't working. As Stephen King put it, "Kill your darlings".
• Save researching stuff for after you're done with the first draft. By then you'll have a better idea what you need.
• Get to know your characters during the planning phase, but don't get too caught up in trivia. You don't need to know their favourite colour or the names of their stuffed toys when they were nine, but you do need to know how they'd react in different situations. For short stories, don't get too caught up in character descriptions because you don't have the space to waste. You probably won't even describe them at all in your story, but in your character profile devote about 100 words to it just so you know who you're dealing with in a concrete way.
• If you're writing science fiction or fantasy, taking a little extra time beforehand to do some worldbuilding is worth the effort. You don't necessarily have to work out all the details, but enough to make it plausible to a reader living in our world.

There's a pretty good seat of your pants guide to getting a short story off the ground here that I refer to a lot, and you might like this guide to planning out conversations. Good luck!

Also, don't only read stuff that's in your preferred genre. Read all kinds of stuff.

Probably the best advice. I'd also add if you really want to write well, read poetry, no exceptions.

Also, don't only read stuff that's in your preferred genre. Read all kinds of stuff.

Probably the best advice. I'd also add if you really want to write well, read poetry, no exceptions.

Now that's elitist talk.

Also, don't only read stuff that's in your preferred genre. Read all kinds of stuff.

Probably the best advice. I'd also add if you really want to write well, read poetry, no exceptions.

I have a kind of weird blind spot when it comes to poetry where it's hard for me to really absorb it easily. And believe me I've tried, I even took a unit on English poetry in university. But it still just falls out of my head almost immediately.

Read only dadaist and beat works.

Also, don't only read stuff that's in your preferred genre. Read all kinds of stuff.

Probably the best advice. I'd also add if you really want to write well, read poetry, no exceptions.

I have a kind of weird blind spot when it comes to poetry where it's hard for me to really absorb it easily. And believe me I've tried, I even took a unit on English poetry in university. But it still just falls out of my head almost immediately.

I think that's common, not only we're unused to poetry these days but the form is kinda complex by nature, since the entire point is for the author to express themself in an ornate way. Good poets however are great with imagery, which is why it's a must to improve your writing (the "writing" bit, at least).

Rather than poetry, it's probably enough to look at lyrics in general. Song texts (good ones mind you) can be really creative and just as good as poetry. Except, ya know, less pretentious.

last edited at Jun 4, 2019 11:13AM

Also an interesting tip! try to imagine the point in the story you want to reach clearly before starting writing the beginning, so instead of "A tale of two brothers running from a village" imagine the two brothers taking over a castle and what they would need to do it or why they do it, because it would be so much easier to start walking when you already have a destination, you can take shortcuts or you can even make some detours but because you already have a goal, all the infinite possibilities that could make you crazy and confuse you are limited to a path already... All you gotta do is write your way there.

You can even imagine the ending if taking over the castle is not the climax, but is easier to have an easier goal first like the climax of the first arc.

@Serenata is absolutely right. That's probably actually the most important thing of all... You need to know how your story ends and what the point of the entire tale is. The core idea/theme. You can write the best beginning of all time, but if you don't know where to go, it will all end up being hot air.

Take it from someone who generally wings most of the plot, it's definitely important to at least have the framwork figured out. Most writers I know work from plot point to plot point and the inbetween is either improvised or not as important.

last edited at Jun 4, 2019 11:27AM

Also an interesting tip! try to imagine the point in the story you want to reach clearly before starting writing the beginning, so instead of "A tale of two brothers running from a village" imagine the two brothers taking over a castle and what they would need to do it or why they do it, because it would be so much easier to start walking when you already have a destination, you can take shortcuts or you can even make some detours but because you already have a goal, all the infinite possibilities that could make you crazy and confuse you are limited to a path already... All you gotta do is write your way there.

You can even imagine the ending if taking over the castle is not the climax, but is easier to have an easier goal first like the climax of the first arc.

A good story should have a beginning, middle and an end. Which sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many people sit down and try to write without at least one of those. A short story generally has a destiation to get to, or a problem to solve. You, as the writer, need to know the solution to the problem ahead of time, where the characters start, and how they get from A to B.

In a longer story, you'll want your characters to try to solve the basic problem, but mess it up somehow. In yet longer stories, you'll have your characters start by trying to solve a problem and finding that it's related to a much bigger problem along the way. But the idea is still the same. You've got a starting point, an ending point, and the middle bit is how the points connect.

I think it depends from persons skills. I think I can write poetry but can not write good novels and school projects.

Definitely. Prose has other elements that also need work. Lovecraft is a great example of an author whose crossing over from poetry to prose doesn't go well, imo. He's often considered a good writer, but in general his style actually works much better in his poetry.