>>14377
First, pick a genera. Which do you prefer?
“Are you happier eating a potato than a bowl of rice? I don’t know. It’s all the same. … Writing is writing." ~Gore Vidal
Or, may not. Anyway …
There's a school of thought advising one to keep reading. King is big on this. He is partly right insofar as seeing for yourself how it is done. Now, King most certainly can walk the walk, whatever faults you may find his writing to have. But, sit him down at the literary table and you will hear he can talk the talk as well. That is to say, he is well versed in literary theory, and much else beside needed to analyze what another writer is doing. This comes as a big surprise to people who dismiss him as just some trashy hack of horror.
The Elements of Fiction is a series you want to check out. The point of doing so is to familiarize yourself with a set of tools writers commonly use. You won't master anything by merely reading about fiction writing techniques. What you will do is sharpen your ability to analyze what "The Greats" are doing. You may even finally discover why your favorite author is so to you, and what you are really trying to emulate from him or her.
I don't have the Paris Review interview at my finger tips so I'll just paraphrase. John Gardner is on record for why he gave up teaching of creative writing. What he discovered was that his students showed a phenomenal improvement once shown the ropes, so to speak. He was shocked at how easy it was, so much so, he felt he needed to devote himself to his writing full time just to stay relevant. Of course, there are teachers, and then there are Teachers. Gardner was also a phenomenal teacher of creative writing by all accounts, one you are not likely to encounter today no matter how many classes you take. No matter.
Humble yourself and thumb through The Elements of Fiction.
