MARJORIE SANDOR: First advice would be to read like crazy-- read, read, read. And read what you want to read, but also enforce a few classics upon yourself. So mysteries, detective stories, all those wonderful things-- also some of the works out of the hundred best novels of the 19th and 20th century. There are these lists out there.
Give yourself some challenges as readers. And you'll find that your richness as a writer yourself will grow, and you'll see many more possibilities for what you can do. So reading is the first order of business.
The next piece of advice I would give, I guess, is to follow your heart in what you write and write-- carry a little notebook with you everywhere you go and eavesdrop and make little notes about people and sketches. And just stay alive to the world. Be a reader of the world itself.