I felt a bit guilty when writing this article because I’ve been neglecting the site and concentrating in other areas of my work life but I have to remember that the first rule a writer must learn is that: writers write!

That means that everyday you should write something, it doesn’t matter what you do with it afterwards, tear it up, wash it down the loo, throw it away, the important point is that you’ve written something. In my own defence I have to say that I do write every day, it’s just that I only get around to updating this blog twice a week instead of the six times a week I use to update.

Writing something, anything, every day will enable you to build up the discipline and commitment required to ensure that you can produce a complete manuscript in whatever genre you choose.

* Do your writing in the same place each day.
* Carry a notebook with you at all times, it is surprising when and when ideas come.
* Select a suitable time to write each day and stick to it.
* Don’t write for twenty minutes today and three hours tomorrow, set a time and stick to it. Try forty minutes to begin with and increase it gently up till two hours.
* When you do sit down to write start by re-reading what you wrote yesterday; at the very least it will encourage you to rewrite. At best, it will be much better than you thought and spur you on to write more.
* Writers use words, many words so my word to you is to go out and buy a good dictionary and thesaurus.
* If you are sending a manuscript away for potential publication then it must be printed. Use a good inkjet printer, if you want better quality than the inkjet point your browser in the direction of ebay and watch out for a laser printer if you are patient they can be picked up quite cheaply! The more professional your writing looks the more professional you will feel and more important the more professional the editor will look upon your work.
* And always, always have someone proof read your work before you pop it into the letter box.