Goodreads asked Melanie Dickerson:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Melanie Dickerson Here's the answer I gave to someone else. I hope it is helpful to others.
Hi, Olivia! I would say, first of all, pray a lot! Let God guide you at every point in the journey. Try to enjoy it, make friends with other writers, and work hard. Practically speaking, you need to be willing to learn as much as possible. Read lots of great books on writing, like The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
Go Teen Writers by Williamson and Morrill
and read the archives of blogs like http://seekerville.blogspot.com/
http://www.killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/
http://www.acfw.com/blog/
http://goteenwriters.com.
Write as much and as often as you can to practice what you are learning. Revise your own work and swap critiques of your work with other writers so you can learn from each other. Don't ever self-publish something that hasn't been edited and revised many times by you, and at least two or three other people. Never stop learning and applying what you learn. But most of all, keep praying and trusting God to guide your career.
I wish you all the best!

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