By Twice25 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
1. There are no excuses for bad writing. Put forth the effort your story is worth and make the writing as awesome as you can.
2. Different publishing houses have different punctuation and formatting styles. Your job isn’t to worry about whether to use a serial comma or not. Write a story that grabs the editor’s attention from beginning to end, and you’ll still get the contract.
3. Head hopping is always bad and will annoy editors and readers alike. Don’t do it.
4. Rejection hurts, even after you’ve had work published. Learn what you can from the rejection letter and move on.
5. Hearing that people love your work is amazing, but constructive criticism is your best friend.
6. Knowing how to self-edit is one of the most useful skills an author can have.
7. Writing what you know is great, but writing what you can learn is even better.
8. Don’t be afraid to try new genres or styles.
9. Passive voice is boring and will get your work rejected.
10. Too much description is bad. Too little description is bad. Let me know if you find the perfect balance.
Be sure to check back next Monday for Part 3 of Things I’ve Learned as an Author!
