No one ever became a good writer by lying on the couch and watching television. Actually I don't think anybody became a good anything by lying on the couch and watching tv.
The first, and perhaps the simplest step you can take on your writing journey is by reading. There are so many books out there waiting to grabbed and enjoyed. These include the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Shroud, a large number of John Grisham and Matthew Reilly thrillers and personal childhood favourites, Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan and The Supernaturalist/Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (I still read those books due to their high level of awesomeness).
Not only will you enjoy these books a great deal, but you will find different writing techniques in every novel. Artemis Fowl and the Bartimaeus trilogy utilises badinage to maintain the reader's interest, whereas Matthew Reilly utilises suspense and a ridiculous amount of action to keep his reader at the edge of their seats. As a writer it is just as important to find an interesting plot line as it is to then write well, and reading well-written works certainly won't hamper your writing. Even if they don't shape your style of writing, novels will at least give you a few ideas here and there which you can use in your own stories.
Remember any idea written well can be interesting, but an interesting idea written poorly will probably, to put it bluntly, sound like crap.
That is very true. Keep up the good work!
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