I'm a writing tutor and I would be happy to answer general writing questions.
My suggested order of learning to become the best writer possible (whether one
desires this particular order or not) is this:

1. Learn to write non-fiction articles & sell to your local paper
2. Learn general short-story writing (a harder field to break into)
3. Then, if you have a mind to do it, branch out into horror or fantasy writing
4. After you have spent 2-5 years learning these things, learn to write a book

Deborah Owen
deborahowen@writing.com