Write every day

[John Dean]

I was asked in an interview 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.” It's advice that my good friend the children's writer Mike Watson lives by. I suspect that many authors do the same.

I also said that 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 but they are not a bad starting point.