how to get ahead as a writer: putting the deliberate into deliberate practice, part two

Part One is here

1. READ.
a manifesto about this– and I'm not talking casual, three-books-a-year reading, or even three books a month. John D MacDonald put the standard at three books a week (tip: it helps to get rid of your TV set). Stephen King says that reading "is the creative center of a writer's life."

Read books. Lots of books. Especially the type of books you think you want to write.

And honestly, so few aspiring...