One piece of advice that I’ve come across in almost every ‘How To Write A Novel’ esque book is this: read! The more you read the better you will become at writing, whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, or a blog/website like mine. Of course, most specifically recommend that if you are writing a romance that you read other romances. You want to read the genre you are going to be writing in. This can help you in many ways.
1) it can give you a feel for what is popular (what people want/like)
2) it can give you a feel for the competition (what is different about your book compared to others like it)
3) it can inspire you to keep writing (I read mostly for this reason)
So I encourage you all to read and if you are in need of some suggestions check out my posts under the ‘Book Reviews’ category.