Behind the Curtain - Writing Advice
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Granted, at this point my experience can hardly be described as exhaustive, and probably doesn't even quite qualify as authoritative, but I've noticed some interesting trends among the writers and would be writers that I've interacted with over the last seven years.
Non-educated writers sometimes turn out real crap. It may be riddled with typos, contain terrible prose and dialogue that is completely unbelievable, but by and large when I run into someone who hasn't received some kind of literature/writing degree, if they really commit to writing a book, they sit down and turn something out. That or they quit after just a few days/weeks.
Now this obviously has some short comings and potential problems, but I'd rather focus right now on the other side of the coin. Nearly every English/writing major I talk to about writing tells me that they want to write, and yet nearly every single one of them hasn't managed to actually produce a book. Even worse, most of them seem to not have really even started.
Part of the reason that this occurs is that the real skill that is imparted by a classical English department is the ability to critique writing and prose. My understanding is that some time is indeed placed into the actual writing process, but much more is placed into logically analyzing other people's work.
This means that these writers sit down to write and automatically begin editing each sentence as it is placed onto the page or screen. They've been exposed to so much great fiction that almost anything they write is instantly compared to stuff that had been through countless revisions and editing passes over the course of much of the authors' adult lives.
In this circumstance anyone's writing is initially going to come off looking pretty poor in comparison. As a result most of these writers spin their wheels over the same section of prose, or are sometimes unable to even begin the writing process.
They've created such a massive goal for themselves that the succumb to the natural tendency to be so overwhelmed that they're completely unable to decide how even to start.
I hope that any readers who fall into this category will take these thoughts in the manner they were intended. You bring a different set of skills and abilities to the equation than most of the people who chose to write genre fiction. This isn't necessarily good or bad, it just is. The important thing to take away from all of this is a better understanding of the areas your strong or weak in, and the vital importance of learning how to suppress your hard-won editing skill until after you've completed your rough draft.
Good luck and happy writing.
Dean