One of the most important things about writing is figuring out how to write. This may sound obvious. Of course you have to figure out how to write, you're not just a Shakespeare the moment you start. Writing is like anything: it takes practice. What I mean is that you have to figure out how you write. There could be a million posts talking about 'putting time aside to write every day' or 'mapping your story out before you even start', but they're useless if they don't resonate with you. For example, being a 'pantser' versus a 'planner'. In writing, a pantser is a person who doesn't need to plan their novel out at all. They just start writing until they come out the other side with a fully fledged novel. A planner is someone who maps out the plot in detail before it happens. (This is actually a bit more of a spectrum, as some people plan out the big plot points but then leave everything else to interpretation.) For years I thought th...