Big fat heaps of writing tips

Well first thing is - you want to write. Don't let anything stop you. Especially - this is so, so important - don't think that being able to write is something that needs permission.  It doesn't need anyone on a high stool telling you you're a writer. AFFIRMATION it's called, and you shouldn't sit there waiting for it. Whoever you think you need your affirmation from, you don't. If you've got the time and you want to work at improving, nothing else should matter. That's not to say that you shouldn't be tough on yourself. You should. That's the best person to be tough on you. But you're writing with the aim of creating worthwhile writing. (I'm avoiding the word 'good' - everyone has their own 'good').  All you can do is take responsibility for putting something meaningful and well-crafted out into the world. The rest is a different thing, and don't get bogged down worrying about it. Having said that, if you're t...

I've discovered something astonishing! It's a secret. It'll make you a great and famous writer when you know it. But you'll have to win that secret from me. You'll have to answer three questions, each more tricky than the last... When you're really into a book, what is it that makes you keep reading? Simple. You want to know what happens next. If your story is going to engage people then there must be no point ever that they aren't both: wishing for the next bit of information to end the suspense hoping it never ends That's a bit of a paradox, I know. You want it to move towards the end but never actually end. But that's how a great read feels, doesn't it?* Unanswered questions in your novel One writer a long time ago, Wilkie Collins, said that there were two things that made readers want to know more information: unanswered questions incomplete actions Let's look at the first. Everything you write should have a question somewhere in the back...

I was talking to a friend who was dying to write a novel. ‘Here you go, you’ve done writing,’ she says, 'listen to this.' And before long I’ve heard just how she’s itching to script that random chapter based on the best ever holiday romance kiss when she just got happier and happier and happier all summer long. She seemed to think she’d live it all again by writing it down and that I’d be happy to read it afterwards. ‘Anyone can write a novel. You just write what you know,’ she says. She’s not the only one. It’s tempting to think that - even comforting, I guess. But surely you can't just write your memories - or your fantasies - or a rubbish version of the last book you read - even though these are three of the things you know best. We have memories and fantasies galore and they blot and splash and make pretty patchworks all through our sleeping and waking minds. They're not stories. Story has structure. Really satisfying story has a really satisfying structure. It need...