To love others’ books and your own
To do what you can to help books sell
To write, rewrite and eventually hone
Your own skills until your work is out there
In all you read and write, prepare!
And the best thing of all is that reading and writing is fun! You’re in the wrong line of work if you can’t enjoy these! I’ve found I have learned a lot about story structure, how things are set out, plot structure and so on as I read. You kind of lap it all up as you read. Besides if you ever want others to support your work by buying it, you really ought to return the compliment, yes?