Reddit reviews Writing without Teachers

Alright, here's some advice from a guy who's supposed to be writing a paper at this very moment:

1. Nothing is original, so everything is a cliche. If it's not, wait 5 minutes and it will be.
   
2. "Hatred toward overused cliches" won't get you anywhere. Hate directed at your writing is paralyzing to the creative process and limits your scope. Fantasy is a genre that is dependent on borrowed mythologies, histories, species, and tropes. Wandering down this path you could say that George RR Martin or Robert Jordan are hack writers because both of them have swords and horses in their books.
   
   
3. Learn to be less critical and more forgiving. Your initial writing should be uncensored and unedited. The goal is to have as little interruption between your thoughts and the words appearing on the screen/page. Most people have writer's block because they are afraid of some component of the process, ie "this sucks, no one will buy it" or "I don't know what I want to write about". My current project got started by looking at the different objects in my environment and writing a story around them. There's loads of advice on generating ideas... not so much on throwing out your personal hangups.
   
   
4. Throw out your personal hangups. Seriously. Be aware of what pisses you off or frustrates you and let it go. Don't even give it a second thought.
   
   
5. Make a loose schedule and start to hone it. What I mean to say is make yourself write twice a day, for a small amount of time. The only rule is that whatever you write has to be in the same word doc or journal or notebook. Organization is important... took me years to realize the mistake of having a gazillion documents across multiple hard drives and dozens of notebooks and yellow pads.
   
   
6. Find the medium that works best for you. Do you work best talking ideas out loud? Use an audio recorder. How about pens? Are you a pencil guy? What does your keyboard feel like? I recently dropped $80 bucks on a SIIG mechanical keyboard because I realized how important it was that I have something that gave me a satisfying typing experience. Become aware of your kinesthetic needs.
   
   So that's what I've got off the top of my head. Mostly, don't be too hard on yourself. Writing is an imperfect science and a daunting art form-- especially when you've spent your whole life being lied to by movies, teachers, and society. Writing should be imperfect on the first go. Don't be hard on yourself and you'll get through the block.
   
   Finally I recommend you pick up these two books:
   
   Writing Without Teachers:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Writing-without-Teachers-Peter-Elbow/dp/0195120167/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311006335&sr=8-1
   
   Elements of Style:
   http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-4th-William-Strunk/dp/0205313426/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311006291&sr=8-1
   
   Good luck!

The book that had the biggest impact on how I write was Peter Elbow's Writing without Teachers, which introduced the concept of freewriting. The book's central message: "Don't edit while you create!"

The other book that had a large impact on how I view myself as a writer, and the purpose of writing in general, was John Gardenr's On Moral Fiction.

Susie's Bright's How to Write a Dirty Story has great advice on writing in general, as well as writing erotica.

I've also heard that Stephen King's book on writing is pretty good, though I haven't read it.