Things I'd Tell Myself Before I Started Writing

10. I wish you read everything you read with more than half a mind on finishing. 

9. Outline. It's okay to change the outline, but honestly, outline.

8.  Rewrite and surrender your heart. It doesn't matter if it is pure poetry if it doesn't fit or drags the plot. 

7.  Know how your character would get ready in the morning, what they would do first, what they would wear, what they would eat, what they would hate.  Also how they would get ready for bed, if you can go through the ordinary in character, you can place your character anywhere and let them behave in a consistent manner. 

6. Just because it's beautiful, doesn't mean it reads. 

5.  EDIT and REREAD YOU FOOL.

4. Research. No matter how much you've read, you're not an expert or a scholar, you're at best, a rookie who has made it through the first half of the season and knows just enough to be foolish but not know it. 

3.  Don't talk about the book or the scene until after you write it.

2.  Keep a book for reading and a notebook and pen for writing plus post-its on your person at all times.

1.  Write legibly.  Every time.  Even when you think you'll remember.