Goodreads asked Stephanie Barr:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Stephanie Barr Write what you love to read. Read a lot of it. Soak it in until you not only know why you loved it but you can think of how you can use what you've learned to make your own ideas into virtual reality.

Know the rules but don't let them hamper you from a good story. That doesn't mean skimp on understand grammar and story structure. You need those skills and having even an innate talent doesn't make up for their lack. I'm really talking about the "rules" on how to get published or how to impress someone. Write the story the way you think it needs to be written and keep putting it out there until someone sees in it what you see.

Bad characters is the number one reason I close a book before finishing it. Good characters can drag me anywhere in the space time continuum. That means you, the writer, need to understand your characters, even if it isn't all put into text. You have to love them and make them sound real, likeable enough strangers would want to get to know them more and spend time with them. But don't forget flaws because a character without flaws is as shallow as the paper it's printed on.

The number two reason I close a book is someone lazy using a thesaurus for words to express themselves they clearly don't fully understand. There are a dozen words for red in the thesaurus, but they don't all mean the same color. If you don't know the difference yourself, don't use it.

Not enough books use humor. Life is funny. Even serious books can be, too. Don't forget to entertain.

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