I'm a writer. I don't mean that I like to write, or even that I want to write, or that I enjoy making up stories on weekends when I'm bored and I need some space. I need to write.

Writing is in my DNA. It's my voice; it's my blood. It's everything to me.

I know that there are many different kinds of artists, and while the medium might feel the same, there are other people who feel that they are best conveyed as something other than human: the dips and highs of a song, the movement and stasis, a drop of paint. I think there are many versions of these people, and they go by different names: singer, dancer, artist.

But these are the kind of people this article is for. People who already know what they’re made of and what they love. People who are committed to their craft.

I am a writer, and so I write this article mostly for writers, but I hope that artists from other fields can appreciate my advice as well.

But for starters, why would you listen to me? After all, I am a teenager. I am still young, growing, and learning.

I am not cocky enough to claim to be far above my peers at this time, nor is that the point I am trying to make. But I am going to list my credentials out, if only to explain why this article is worth reading.

I have been published in literary journals nearly 200 times, and have 7 Scholastic Art and Writing awards. I have worked in 11 staff positions in reputable or international journals, and have experience as an editor and a manager, and have founded two online literary magazines. I understand the writing experience in the professional world, and have had some degree of success as well, success I had to earn and learn through painstaking effort.

I have already written a guide to the publishing industry, and if you are interested, click here. But be aware that that is not the focus of this article. Publishing is meaningless if you have not pushed your voice, your vision, your creativity, as far as it can go. Being authentic, while beautiful, simply isn’t enough.

I tend to focus on the merits of language rather than plot, focusing on poetry and metaphors. From my experience, here is what works.

1. Read

I know, I know, you've heard this before. And it's true, but it needs to be done right.

Please, please, don't just read random stuff because you have to, or because it seems "intellectual." This is coming from someone who reveres classical work; there is absolutely no point in reading this work unless you feel a genuine connection with it. In fact, you'd be much better off spending that time binging Pretty Little Liars or turning on your Taylor CDs.

Find books that you love, and they can be as few as possible. It can be one book, even (though it can also be many!!). The quantity is not remotely important.

But find books that you love, and observe them carefully. Analyze every metaphor, every sentence. Highlight, rewrite the sentences, and read every chapter carefully. Annotate. Take your favorite scenes and write those words by hand. Try to expand chapters, or think of alternate scenarios or endings.

In short, grow your emotional landscape. Your goal is to feel what the characters feel, to make these stories real to you. The more you are able to feel, the more experiences you can almost claim as your own, the better.

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Taking one book and really living through it can be the equivalent of reading 50 books if you do it right. But it isn’t enough. Supplemental material, often with a similar style or topic, is also important. Read shorter pieces, if you’re sticking to one book, or less important ones at the same time.

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but when you begin your search for your style, variety should not be your priority. In fact, I’d argue otherwise. Find the style you enjoy reading, and read everything possible in that style.

Write expansions of those works. Write with the characters in mind, with the emotions. But focus on the style (or a few styles), rather than trying to be the jack of all trades.

Now, if you have developed a voice, that’s when variety becomes important. Once you have become proficient or advanced in one style, that’s when you want to explore every other style. Why?

Because now your focus is not on finding but on refining. Your muscles automatically know how to write in the way that you want to, but that doesn’t mean you know everything. You want to develop those skills and be able to use other people’s techniques, forms, and methods.

More importantly, you want to be able to take those things and incorporate them into your own work. Originality isn’t making your work intentionally different from other people’s or to avoid using others’ ideas (and to imply it would be arrogant), but rather to use other people’s ideas to further your own.

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2. Consume.. With All Your Senses

I also want to be clear that by read, I don’t just mean books. I am a firm believer in finding inspiration in unlikely places: a quote by a friend, a newspaper clipping, a modern art piece, a song lyric. If you connect to other forms of art, that’s not just okay, that’s GREAT.

The ability to combine senses and disciplines when writing is something that I’ve found to be the secret to creating something that isn’t just writing, but artwork. Words are like a sense of your own, and that’s something I will always believe; they have an uncanny ability to manipulate. They are the language of your brain, and every word is connected to billions of other words, of feelings, or memories.

To write is to put your brain through a story, to have your brain remember and relive and create, to stimulate a thousand words in a complex chain that connect to more and more words, to create an entire world within and out of your mind. It is essentially its own unique sense.

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But to stay with someone, it needs more. To be able to know about different fields, science, mathematics, architecture, and to understand different art forms, is a vital gift. Expression lives in each and every one of these things, and the ability to combine all of these things into its own unique, expressionist world, to take the merits of all of these things, will reward you for a lifetime.

So what am I advising? Keep your eyes peeled. Read.

Go to ballets, concerts, and clubs. Look for knowledge, for culture, for ideas, everywhere. Don’t be ashamed of where you look for things- Tumblr posts, Pinterest, cringy TV shows, these all work in their own ways. Knowledge doesn’t have to come from big dusty books or old white dudes. It lives in every single person and in what they do.

3. Pinterest is Your Best Friend

Weirdly enough, this might actually be one of the most helpful tools for an artist that I’ve ever discovered. Mood boards are vital for poets, like a fast track to improving. (Plus, for any of you that are addicted to scrolling, congratulations, you have found a way to do so guilt-free.)

My method is to have one board for every poem or quote (or other things) I find goal-worthy (I find that saving individual lines or short poems is more specific and helpful than extremely long works). I have others made up entirely of images to tell a story that words cannot. As with all exercises, the key is consistency- spend large amounts of time and put a lot of effort into this.

For those of you who already spend hours on Pinterest, put that time into these boards. Have them open when you’re writing. Save words, phrases, and fabrics.

Remember what I said in #2 about looking for art in all forms and places? That’s exactly what this is, but in an organized way.

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4. Live Your Life

You write what you know. If you want to be a good writer, you need to experience the world. You need to live your life, do new things, and grow as a human being first and foremost.

Do this, and your craft will naturally improve. The things you need to know to write about life cannot be taught; they must be felt.

5. Take Breaks- Long Ones

This is incredibly important. Take breaks if you’re not feeling it. In fact, taking breaks is one of the best things you can do. I regularly take breaks for many months at a time, reading and taking things in rather than rushing to produce.

Writing when you don’t want to and not producing anything that matters to you isn’t helpful. In fact, it leads to burnout. No, you might not be overly enthusiastic every time you write something, but if there doesn’t seem to be anything keeping you with your notebook other than a desire to create something, to be productive.. That’s not helpful.

Input is more important than output. Exposure is more important than creation.

6. Have a Passion Project

Let’s be real, 90% of writing difficulties involve finding something worth writing about. That’s why passion projects are incredibly helpful for developing your skills and allowing you to commit to one masterpiece.

Come up with a project. Any project. One form I really love is a series of vignettes, where you can record poetic paragraphs about any topic and string them together artistically, but I’ve also done poetry or journalistic pieces.

Either way, commit yourself to it fully. Write for that project whenever you feel the need to write. The emotions and situation you are in each time will vary, and I encourage you to explore them and incorporate them into each piece.

Write about yourself within the project. Edit deeply. Treat this space like your diary. It will allow you to gain a deep personal connection with your work as well as completely reinvent your writing style.

And lastly, take these tips with a grain of salt if they ever prove unhelpful to you. I am one of many writers, and we all write differently. I do hope some of my suggestions proved valuable to you, and if not, feel free to let me know what did work!