A modest ambition - aiming for perfection

[John Dean]

Writing is a hugely complex craft requiring the author to master a wide range of techniques, everything from character point of view to getting the pace right, ensuring that he or she has the grammar correct to creating dialogue that sounds like real people speaking.

However, I believe that at its heart are a small number of golden rules, out of which everything flows. I am teaching a few online writing courses at the moment during lockdown and, although I am addressing a number of techniques, the courses are underpinned by my golden rules, which are:

Consider the reader - do not write for yourself, always write for the reader. That does not mean writing what you think they want to read but providing them with what they need to understand the story.

Be disciplined - you may wish to pack lots of information in but does the reader really need it? You may know twenty things about a character but does the reader need it all?

You may not have put enough information in - you can imagine where a scene is set but have you given the reader the information that they need to see it?

Be brutal - if you have overwritten, chop out the fat when it comes to editing. If that leaves your story short of words then find some better ones.

Acknowledge that you will never write the perfect story but, by crackey, you’re going to keep learning until you get close.