Stay true to who you are. Don't copy other authors. Instead, use them as a guide to learn who you want to be as a writer. Create your own style, voice, and method. Try new things and use what works for you.
Constantly read. Read inside and outside of your genre(s) to gain knowledge.
Research counts as part of writing. If you have writer's block that won't budge, you can take a break from writing and work on research to help get you unstuck. Or you can write something else. Reading a book can also free your mind of blockages.
Not all stories have to begin at the beginning. That's the beauty of writing a story. Its beginning can start anywhere--even at the end. There's no right or wrong place to begin a story. It's how the story is told that matters. Be creative.
Plan/don't plan. It's all up to you. You can even use both or even go back and forth. Don't let another writer tell you it has to be one or the other. What works for one author may not work for another. Do what works for you.
When you write, try to take breaks to keep your mind fresh. How long between breaks is up to you and the same goes for the break's length. Your mind is precious, don't let it get burned out. The same goes for social networking.
Just write. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, leaving something out, or adding too much information. It is going to be a mess, and that's okay. The first draft is you telling yourself the story--no one will see this version. Once you begin to edit, that's when you can make the story shine. Right now, just get it onto the "paper".
Talking to other writers is a good way to learn. You can use each other to bounce ideas off of. Be respectful though, don't take someone else's ideas.
Do not rely on spell check. Words like "is", "in", "of", "on", etc could be spelled correctly but if the wrong word is used, spellcheck won't catch it. The same goes for words with different spellings like "one" and "won". Those can be caught through editing.
Be careful with cliches. Do not overuse them.
