This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
1. Don’t ever compare how you are doing with anyone else, it will only make you sad!
2. Be disciplined and stay off the internet for most of the day. If you’re not, you can look around at the end of the week and realise that you know exactly what Kerry Katona has been up to, but you haven’t written anything of any use.
3. If you don’t love your story and your characters, it’s unlikely that the reader will either. You’re going to spend a lot of time with the people in your book, so you have to really be enthusiastic about them and what’s happening to their lives.
4. Find an objective and kind friend to read your work. They have to be both things to ensure their feedback is honest but it doesn’t put you off writing for life!
5. Try to put your first draft away for a few weeks before you come back to it. Something miraculous happens during that delay and you’ll be much more likely to look at what you’re written with a critical eye and chop out the stuff that doesn’t work.
The Mysterious Miss Mayhew by Hazel Osmond is out now.