Interesting topic! 

I don't know if I have a paradigm, per se, but I do have a few habits that I've cultivated. 

One thing I noticed is that I actually avoid the How To books...I suspect this is largely due to the fact that I majored in English/Fiction Writing in college, and so take that aspect of things with a grain of salt.  I spent years at a time (cumulatively) doing writing exercises and stuff like that.  I still do them, and so the How To books are outside of my field of experience.  Having said that, I'll add that you should take ALL How To books with a grain of salt.  They're useful, but only up to a point. At times, they're likely to intimidate you OUT of writing rather than helping you to become a better writer: don't throw them out of the window, but if you're able, find other writers (especially published writers) that you can talk to and interact with.

The other thing is simple.  Read.  Read.  Read.  And when you're done reading, read some more.  The best way to learn HOW to write fiction is to read tons and tons of fiction.  The best way to learn how to write poetry is to read tons and tons of poetry.  Of course you need to learn forms, genres, and all of that good stuff, and this is where the How To books can help immensely, especially in terms of teaching you the necessities of grammar and syntax and how those effect style and type-of-story.  Ultimately though, half of writing is reading.  As for me, I with science fiction and fantasy, I found that the more of it I read, the more driven I am to interact with other writers, even the dead ones.  Some writers inspire me, others disgust me.  I find that the writers who disgust me are the more helpful ones in terms of pushing me to come up with ideas. I don't "rewrite" their stories, but I do rebut them.  I won't name names or point fingers, but find a genre that you like and then a writer within that genre that you hate.  Even if you don't read their full novel/story, etc...learn about it.  Dissect it.  Look at what it is that you absolutely loathe about it, and then figure out why you loathe it.  For me, it always boils down to ideology. I can point out a dozen (and more) ideologically-offensive stories within the science fiction and fantasy fields.  Because of this, I'm also aware of the more subtle things that I want to depict in my own fiction.  OR, conversely, I'm also aware of how I can actually play with those offensive things and offer a critique, even though I'm writing fiction.  And so I guess, in a nutshell, I'm saying that it probably helps you to find your passions in regular non-writing life, and import those into your writing, no matter what the genre is and use THOSE things as the fuel for your stories, and if not fuel, then at least spice.  Ultimately, however, read other writers (especially those who are doing what you want to do.)  That and interact with other writers.

There's actually more that I could say, but I'm gonna shut up for now.  I hope this was at least partly coherent and partly helpful.