You are to become the Shaper of the Cosmos. It is you who will give form and content to all the universe. You will breathe life into the stillness, giving meaning and purpose to all the actions which are to follow. - Gary Gygax

Writing a first-draft battle scene is akin to real combat - chaos, confusion, and you must keep your cool as you fire word bullets downrange. - Don Roff

It’s important for writers to remember that their audience experiences the story from the narrator’s perspective. Failing to maintain a consistent perspective is a literary form of whiplash, leaving readers confused and questioning.

"If it’s critical to the character, it’s critical to the reader, and then it’s not backstory.” - Jeff Kleinman

Creating believable worlds in fantasy or dystopian or what-have-you writing can help sell the reader on an otherwise unbelievable premise.

The lesson I most needed to learn was this: just write. It doesn’t matter how bad it is. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense the first time around. There’s a reason editing is a thing, and a reason it’s called a first draft.