Hi, and welcome to Writing.Com!

It's always difficult to give someone advice on how to develop their writing, because everyone learns so differently, are such different people, and have such different opportunities available to them. I've heard of lots of people who have studied creative writing and have enjoyed it and have benefited from it, especially if they have good teachers. (I am a firm believer that the kind of teacher and teaching you have makes a world of difference.) Sometimes it may be useful to just hear some of the things that have helped a variety of people, and try things out and see what seems to fit.

For me, personally, my writing never took off until I started setting aside most of the rules I had been taught. Part of this was due to the methods used by my teachers, but part of it is also that my writing is a reflection of who I am, and just doesn't work with a lot of current writing philosophies and methodologies. I've just had to figure out how to do things in ways that are true to myself.

I've found a few things that have helped me develop my writing. Besides actually doing it and practicing, of course. One is reading a lot of good, quality books. Another is learning about lots of other things: history, drama, music, science, calculus, and more. My big focus right now is weaving. It just feels like all these things, and all the other things I've learned, and all the things I'm wanting to learn, just help me build a more complete picture of humanity. What it is to be human, what life was like throughout time and across cultures, different ways to see the world and to think about things. How connected the whole human family is. I've found that learning lots of other things helps my writing feel more complete and real.

I hope you add to your portfolio soon--I'd love to see what you have to say! I'm very dedicated, myself, to supporting and sharing my faith through my writing--although I often do so through poetry and the symbolism embedded in fairy tales--so I love to find other people who like to have their writing life and their religious life connected.

Good luck!

-Mariah :)