Writing Advice

Jenny wants to know what the best piece of writing advice I've ever received is. How do you like that for a question?

I've got loads of good advice. Things like:
Show, don't tell
Don't rush
Blind re-writes
Just write it
Look at other writers as models

All good, good stuff.

However, if I had to peg the one thing that's most important, I'd say it's, "Write for yourself first." I use it in the context of thinking that anything I write had better be good enough that I'd want to read it, and I'm a picky reader.

This advice also helps tie some other bits of advice together - especially things like using other writers as models. If I love the way someone else does an action scene, I have to ask myself what makes me like it and figure out how I can do something like it. Then, I'm in a better spot to hold myself to my high reading standards when it comes to my own work.

Who do you write for first?