The Guardian asked some famous writers what their rules are for writing well. Here are a few I like:
Margaret Atwood: Don't sit down in the middle of the woods. If you're lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page.
Roddy Doyle: Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, eg "horse", "ran", "said".
Helen Dunmore: Listen to what you have written. A dud rhythm in a passage of dialogue may show that you don't yet understand the characters well enough to write in their voices.
Geoff Dyer: Have more than one idea on the go at any one time. If it's a choice between writing a book and doing nothing I will always choose the latter. It's only if I have an idea for two books that I choose one rather than the other. I always have to feel that I'm bunking off from something.
Esther Freud: Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breathe life into it, they'll know it too.
Neil Gaiman: Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
There are loads more. But maybe you should be writing instead?
(for support in writing your book, consider the 60-day Breakthrough Strategy online coaching program. You can get details and the next starting date at www.jurgenwolff.com)
