>But to add on that... write as much as you can, get it down, and then
>invite, no, demand that people rip it apart. Find people whose opinion
>you trust, friends, forum-dwellers, whoever, people who you KNOW can
>recognize good or bad writing when they see it, and ask them if
>they'll read your stuff and tell you what's awful about it. Tell them
>to be brutal, to pick nits. Your best friend as a writer are people
>who think you suck and suck hard.

That would be the "support network" I don't have anymore. The last beta reader I had that actually responded with constructive criticism was a fellow named Phil Moyer.

(Which gives you an idea just how long it's been...)

>Steal shamelessly. Find methods of story construction of clever
>literary tricks in other works you like and lift them out wholesale.
>Someone did something clever with scene construction or timelines? You
>lift that sucker out and file out the serial numbers if you need it
>for your own work. Don't plagiarism, but aside from that anything
>goes. Don't be afraid of not being "original." Nobody is original.
>SHAKESPEARE ripped off all his best stuff from the classics.

That's EXACTLY how Otaku Rising got started, although technically Cor did the initial steal. :)