Goodreads asked Eric Dontigney:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Eric Dontigney Sigh, this is trite, but true. Read a lot. I mean you need to read a LOT. We learn the basic rules of grammar as kids, but we're never taught the principles of good storytelling. We absorb that information subconsciously from the media we consume. If you don't read much, you've got a very shallow well of information about what makes for good writing.

If you want to write novels, television is a pretty terrible source for learning good storytelling. TV is episodic and open-ended by design. Novels are continuous and closed-ended. Even if you're writing a series, each novel has to tell a complete story that is mostly resolved. Films are a better analogy, insofar as they follow a similar narrative structure. Unfortunately, the rhythm of filmic storytelling is fundamentally different than storytelling on the page.

If you really want to be a writer, and a good writer, you have to read other good writers. More importantly, you need to read outside your favorite genre. As much as I love urban fantasy, it's not all I read. I also read thrillers, mysteries, classics and contemporary literature. On my current reading slate is John Marmysz' "The Nihilist," Robert Jackson Bennett's "American Elsewhere," Annit Proulx's "The Shipping News," and even Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." Yeah, yeah, I know, Brown really isn't that great a writer, but he does one thing better than anyone else. He paces his novels brilliantly. I also read a ton of non-fiction.

The other piece of advice is that you need to write pretty much every day. Like any other craft, there's an almost visceral feel to the process that you lose if you don't engage in it regularly. Think of it like riding a bike. If you haven't ridden a bike in five years, you can probably still get on and ride, but it'll be wobbly, unpleasant and painful the next day. Same goes for writing.

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