Seven Writing Tips from 7 Respected Authors ...and me.
1. Maggie O’Farrell
‘What I wish I’d known when I was starting out, is that you don’t have to worry about beginnings. Don’t worry too much about knowing what you’re doing at the beginning. You can start in the middle if you want! Just put the words down.’
2. Iris Murdoch
Writing is about practice, and not about luck.
3. Lionel Shriver
‘Write whatever you damned well want. Trying to please ends up pleasing no one, including yourself. And caution is boring. Especially in these touchy times, I suggest getting yourself into trouble. (That won’t be hard.)’
4. Virginia Wolf (from Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown, Woolf’s famous essay)
Eavesdrop. Listen to the way people speak, but pay special attention to their silence.
5. Katherine Mansfield
Looking back I imagine I was always writing. Twaddle it was too. But better far write twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all.
6. Hilary Mantel
Be ready for anything. Each new story has different demands and may throw up reasons to break these and all other rules. Except number one: you can't give your soul to literature if you're thinking about income tax.
7. Zadie Smith
Work on a computer that is disconnected to the internet.
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...and me... Imagine your scenes in your head, imagine the dialogues taking place and the setting coming alive. Imagine a character saying to you––"no–I'm not doing exactly what you planned for me, I'm doing this, instead!
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