Goodreads asked Victoria Perkins:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Victoria Perkins I'll steal this one from Stephen King's On Writing (which is probably one of the best books any aspiring fiction writer can read). "Read a lot, write a lot." Don't just talk about writing. Do it. Another (paraphrased) instruction from King was writing = butt in chair. A lot of people talk about how they want to write or how they'd be a writer if they just had the time. If you read On Writing, you'll see why that's not an excuse.

I'll also add something a former college professor told my class. Read everything. Don't just read the genres you like. Try out at least one or two books from every genre. Read at least one book from the big name authors. That suggestion actually lead me to J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and Dean Koontz, among others.

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