A Goodreads user asked Erin Bowman:

Erin, I really, REALLY loved the Taken Trilogy. I want to be as great as a writer as you are when I'm older, and hope to publish a book I'm writing soon. I was wondering if you could give me a few tips on writing? Any important skills I should know? I'm writing teen fiction, because I'm a teen myself and would know how teens feel and relate to teen characters in books.

Erin Bowman My biggest piece of advice is to read often, and widely. Read anything you can get your hands on, and dissect it all. What do you like? What do you hate? Apply that to your own writing. (You can do this with all forms of storytelling--movies, TV, video games). And then, of course, be sure to keep writing. Finish a book. Seek out feedback and revise, because stories only shine once they're polished. Write the story *you* want to read and don't give up!

That's broad advice, so if you're looking for direction on specific elements of the craft, you can check out the resources on my website, too: http://www.embowman.com/extras/for-wr...

Best of luck with your writing, and thank you for the kind words about my trilogy!

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