What do you read?
Whenever I go into the Barnes and Noble, I go into two sections: science fiction and the reference sections.
The science fiction section tells me where the trends are and what types stories are popular, etc. I want to be unique, therefore I have to know what the big 6 are putting out. Also, I read the genre in order to improve my writing skills.
The reference section has received a lot of my money recently. I have a small library on editing, characters, plots, themes, etc. These books have exercises that has really helped me.
What do you write?
I write science fiction novels. Usually dystopian, space operas, and cyberpunk. However, my stories focus on he characters first, science last. I make an effort to have three dimensional characters. My character arcs always include an internal change, at some level.