Who wants to pay thousands of dollars for a master’s degree? Well, no one really. I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained from going through my master’s program, but really, you can improve your writing without going broke or going into debt. And the best part is, you’ll only have to spend a few dozen dollars instead of thousands. Here are my tips: 1. Read. Read, read, and read some more. Read a lot in your genre to become aware of the rules and conventions within it. Find out what is generally accepted and what isn’t. For example, in young adult books, you might have a harder time getting a deal if it’s loaded with curse words. It’s possible and those books do get published, but it might be more of a challenge because of the “protect the children” mindset that many parents and industry folks have. In an adult book this obviously wouldn’t be an issue. I also recommend reading outside your genre. You never know what cool tricks and devices you can adopt for writin...