Find a mentor

There are four corner posts in improving your writing. First, you must read. This is patently obvious and yet there are many who are attempting to write books and they themselves have not read a book, cover to cover, in the past year.

Second, you must write. You must get words on paper, revise, rework, rewrite, repeat. If you cannot see the benefit in this, find some other way of spending your time.

Third, you should workshop. Feedback from peers who took the time to mark up your work and provide suggestions and their impressions is priceless. If you are defensive while being workshopped, no matter how justified you think you are in being pissed off, you are failing at being workshopped. Being defensive (or worse yet, complaining to others about it) while being workshopped is tantamount to being angry at the buffet table in a Chinese restaurant. Take what you want, leave what you don't. You only look stupid becoming indignant when you realize they are offering the hot-and-sour soup. Shut up, put on your big kid undies, move on.

Finally, find a mentor. The real strength of many of the MFA writing programs across the country lies in the assignation of mentors. During my pursuit of an MFA, I was exceedingly fortunate to have been mentored by some of the finest, most professional, most generous people. Having my work reviewed and receiving detailed feedback from Richard Hoffman, Suzanne Strempek Shea, James Patrick Kelly, and Michael Kimball did more for my work than years of collecting experiences, reading craft books, writing nearly daily for years, or even having three novels published by a major house. The order also worked in my favor. Richard was first and was my wake up call. First, he enabled me to see how perhaps I should get off my literary high-horse, realize that I did not even realize how much about writing I did not know, and then he gently and brilliantly laid the groundwork for the growth to come. Next came Michael whose encouraging but grounded style and profound understanding of the craft of writing a novel was just what I needed. In those few months under Mike's tutelage, I learned more about writing a novel than I had in all the previous years combined, despite having been a published novelist. Suzanne then shepherded me through a process of thinking and writing about writing and the industry and the meta-language within the literary world, allowing me to process the world in which I love to live. Her thoughtfulness, read as compassion and intellectual depth, provided a space for me to stretch as a thinker and a writer. Finally, Jim Kelly, the doctor of plot, the king of "what if," the sultan of "so what." His advice was brilliant and incisive. Almost every statement Jim makes about your manuscript makes you pause and say, "Hmph, oh yeah. He's right." Jim challenges you, reinforces the strengths in the battlements you create, but diplomatically punches huge holes in the shoddy work allowing you to do it right next time.

Assuming you are serious about your writing, and you already read, write, and share that writing with knowledgeable friends, that leaves only the fourth pillar- mentoring. You can either enroll in an MFA program or find someone else you trust. My mentors did more good for my writing- pound for pound, minute for minute- than anyone who has never been mentored can comprehend. Find a mentor.