My golden rules for new writers

[John Dean]

I was asked the other day for my golden rules for new writers. I replied: “Write something every day because you cannot be a writer if you do not write– it may not always be brilliant but at least you’ve done it.”

Also, I said, they should not write for themselves. Always write for the reader. Think what the reader needs to understand your story.

Be disciplined is another good rule - you may wish to pack lots of information in but does the reader really need it?

Alternatively, you may not have put enough information in - you can imagine where a scene is set but have you given the reader the information they need? You may think you have drawn a character but can your readers see them?

My final tip was “Be brutal - if you have overwritten, chop out the fat.”

There’s a whole lot more to learn (and I, for one, am certainly still learning about the craft of writing) but my golden rules are not a bad starting point.