Goodreads asked Jason Kapcala:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Jason Kapcala Read a lot. Read books similar to the ones you want to write. Read books different from those you want to write. Read across different forms (poetry/prose). Read non-creative research work. Read about the craft of writing. And as you are doing so, read like a writer. Begin forming your opinions about writing--what do you observe, what do you value, what do you believe? Lots of people are going to tell you what they think you should be writing, what you should do to change your story, etc., and it is good to be open to fresh perspectives, but a lot of those suggestions are going to be self-serving and not of much use to you. If you have a strongly developed sense of what you believe about writing, that can guide you and help you filter through that feedback.

So, read a lot.

Then forget it all whenever you sit down to write your first draft. Trust that you've internalized everything you need. Don't try to paint by numbers or apply your intellectual understanding of writing to the act of writing in the moment. You'll have an opportunity to go back later and pick it apart (and pick it apart you should!). But when you sit down to write, shut off that critical faculty and enjoy the experience of creating something new, or beautiful, or heartbreaking. Engage that part of your mind that makes good decisions without your conscious control--you can't think your way through it like a puzzle. And when you look back later, you may be surprised to find you've written things and made intuitive decisions that you don't even remember making at the time.

I also think it is good advice, in revision, to try to write against whatever your initial impulse was. Do whatever you can to break away from "intention" and any blinders you may have had on when you were drafting, and engage the subconscious. I try to switch up my approach from one stage to the next—if I plotted it out, initially, I try to throw that away and just let my mind play during the next pass, and vice versa.

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