[L'Oiseau Noir]

I'm not a published author, but I am currently in the process of writing my own novel. I'll try to help you as much as I can.

Read a lot. I know I'm just echoing the words of several other people, but this really is an essential part of the writing process. Study the author's form--what kind of pacing do they use? Are they overly descriptive, or too underly descriptive? How realistic does their dialog sound? Are their characters relatable to yourself or real life? Just ask yourself a bunch of questions about the author's writing, and analyze every component of it.

Practice. Practice makes perfect, as I'm sure you've heard. Read up on your grammar so you can familiarize yourself with the English language, then write; anything will do, just get something on your paper. Then edit it. Write a few short stories to practice your pacing, plotting, characterization, etc.

Write what you know. If you don't know about something, research it. You can't just write a piece of literature about something you're completely ignorant of, just because you may have seen a movie that takes place in that area/era/whatever.

For example, in my story the setting is in Paris. I didn't know anything about France except a few tidbits, so I did some research online. I looked up pictures, names of districts/famous monuments, common terms and phrases, brushed up on a bit of basic French, and I watched videos on youtube that documented a person's trip through these specific areas. I paid close attention to the backdrops and the people, so I could be sure I wouldn't sound fake and uninformed in my story.

Research. I think I covered this pretty well above, but I'll enlighten a bit more here. Watch videos if you're setting is in a foreign place (and in the present). Or if it takes place in, let's say, the dark ages, then get your butt online and look stuff up about the dark ages like the names of armor pieces (do you know what a hauberk or a pauldron is?), parts of a castle (have you heard the terms curtain wall or the lower bailey/main bailey/barbican?), names of areas from that particular time period, the different kinds of people that inhabited those areas during that time, and so on. I think you get the picture.

Critique Groups. Though it isn't a requirement, it'd be a good idea to join a writing forum online and have your work appraised by other writers who are well-versed in grammar, or other parts of the English language. That way you can see through another pair of eyes if you're story flows well, if your characters are well done, if your dialog is flaky or really good, if your punctuation is done correctly; and you get the rest. If forums aren't your thing though, then get a group of people (like friends of family) who're good in English to look over your work and give you feedback about it. I'd say at least three people. Maybe even your English teacher (make sure they aren't one of those types that just glance over work, see words, and give you an "A") have a look at it and help you edit it.

That's just a bit of advice I have for you, but like I said I'm not published. It's just bits of information I've acquired while scouring the internet and talking in various forums.