ADVICE

From time to time people ask me for advice about writing. This is what I say:

  1. Write for no other reason than you enjoy it. The more you enjoy a thing, the more you’ll do it; the more you do a thing, the better you get.
  2. If you are a teenager writing, then be patient. Some writers find their voice immediately, for others (like me) it can take a while. This is not a race.
  3. Read as many advice articles as you want, pick and choose whatever advice works for you, ignore everything if none of it works. It’s an art, not a science and the only thing you need to do is create.

BUT…

Despite eschewing anything but the vaguest possible writing advice, I did write some blogposts as part of the Author Allsorts collaborative blog, from 2013-2018. Here are links to all the posts I wrote. Some of them might constitute advice. Some give insight into how I write. Some are just fun.

Seven deadly sins for writers

Non’s thoughts on censorship #1

How an editor copes with being edited (even though I’m not an editor any more)

Is YA just for girls? (Spoiler alert: NO)

Non’s thoughts on censorship #2

How to make a flying unicorn (aka WRITING IS HARD)

How I cope with deadlines… as in, not very well

Letter to my fifteen-year-old self

The trials of writing a second book

How to edit your own book (what I learned as an editor)

Who I write for

DON’T show don’t tell

Ten thing to trigger your writerly insecurities (and how to cope)

How to edit your own book (what I learned as a writer)

How to social media

Things the writer in your life would like for Christmas

What does being on brand actually mean?

If I wrote a TV show…

And a perennial favourite written for a different blog:

Top tips for getting published

Plus bonus a blogpost by Annabel Pitcher that helped me when I was writing my first book and might help you too?

 

 

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