Some things I've learned along the way:

1. Revise. Revise a lot. Books are never finished, only abandoned. There's no such fucking thing as a flawless work, it can always be improved, but we can try to get closer and closer every time. Revise your work about 3 or 4 times before you post it, which means leaving a day in between revisions.

2. Read a lot. More importantly, read good books a lot. If you read strictly Harry Potter, Twilight and Dan Brown, you're not going to be any good at all. Expose yourself to different styles of writing, different genres, and look into "high level" books you were forced to read in class. And genres doesn't mean sci-fi vs. action, I mean postmodern works, modern works, Victorian, realist, transcendentalist (ugh), etc.

3. Know the basics. Know how to construct sentences, know how to create a simple story, learn literary devices and how to implement them, keep meter and rhythm in mind, etc. Crawl before you can walk.

4. Don't worry too much about grammar. If it's horrendous and getting in the way, then yeah, knock it down, but if it's just a little off and it adds to the pacing/voice, then go ahead. Suggested reading: The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

5. You're going to be shitty. Live with it. A good writer thinks he's innately better than everyone else, but knows he's not at that point yet.

6. Don't be afraid to ask why someone thinks this or that! People are wrong too, and in every craft there's a group of idiots walking around thinking they know more than everyone else. Don't ignore people's advice, but don't discount yourself because Shakespeare said you're terrible and he left his shoes in your mom's bedroom.

7. Try to be original. Experiment. Be ballsy. That's how genius is created.