If I knew then what I know now…. lessons learned by experienced authors.

Melinda Jane Harrison Never write for money, LOL.

Kallypso Masters Being a writer is a solitary, sedentary endeavor. Don’t let your health suffer as a result. Try to get up and move at least once every hour or two. Better yet, schedule an hour-long workout for some point in the day. And drink lots of water to keep your eyes hydrated. It will help avoid eye strain.

Geoffrey Mehl I wish I’d known to be unafraid, to write without fear. When at last you really let yourself go, really get into the skins of characters, you confront your very soul, the artistic core of yourself. That moment of truth and honesty sets you free. And it’s wonderful, the difference between being in a closet and being in the whole world.

Delle Jacobs Learn the rules-but even better learn the best ways to break them.

Alicia Rasley I wish I’d known back then that plot is what happens when change happens. I would have saved a lot of time writing circular, episodic stories if I just known that: Plot is what happens when change happens.

Debbie McClure Keep a backup copy of everything! I’ve lost whole files and revisions because I forgot to keep a running back up. Now there’s frustration for you.
Jeff Rasley I’ve learned to be conscious of the “rule of 3s”: Using 3 examples, 3 objects in sentences, 3 sections to a book, etc. 3 is a sacred/mystical number that we tend to use in grouping, so it just seems to feel right when something can be understood in a threesome. It helps in writing to be conscious of using it.

Mallory Kane Every scene should further the plot, the heroine’s journey to her goal, or the hero’s journey to his goal. Or preferably all three. Even the sex scenes. Especially the sex scenes.

Barbara Keiler Characters: If characters don’t feel alive inside you, they won’t come alive on the page. Plot: The story is where you want to go. The plot is the road that takes you there.

Mary Watson I have learned that everything MUST rely on cause and effect.

 Jody Wallace Figure out how the book ends before you bother starting it, LOL. And with characters: if you let your secondary characters take over, you will regret it.

James Rasley I would write more compelling villains. A way to make your villain compelling is to give them morally just motivations. A villain should be the hero of their own story.

Elizabeth Ayers Make your characters likable and relatable very quickly. Readers must identify with the characters very quickly. You must invest the reader into the story.
Virginia Taylor I have learned that when the plot gets stuck to take a long walk because that somehow opens my brain to new ideas.

 ML “Matt” Buchman Stop revising. You will always improve more by writing a new book than revising an old one.

Amanda McCabe Be persistent. That’s the number-one most important quality, I think. Just keep writing, keep moving ahead. And write what you love; those are always the best books 🙂

Greg Cryns You can’t read too much.

Ian Healy Write books you would want to read, because there are people out there like you looking for books like that.

Mary Watson: Write for the reader you are, not for the writer you’re trying to be.

Laura Hayden If I knew then what I know now, I might not have taken a chance. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, which isn’t to say that you should go into our career field unaware or uneducated. But there are lessons that you must learn through time, sweat and sheer cussedness. You can’t be simply warned or informed.

Jinny Kirby-Baxter Just write! You have no idea how fast the years go by and before you know it, time will run out.