As long as you allow the external world to dictate how you write, you will remain an author reacting to events rather than an author setting out the future.

Most writer, indeed most people, allow the external world to shape their outlook on life, to shape what is for them reality. The successful on the other hand rely on their own talents to shape a different reality – a reality which is often poles apart from the reality of the ordinary man.

Have you ever heard it said that ’so and so’ has no idea of reality of how the ordinary person thinks or acts. Of course they don’t, or at the very least they can transport themselves outside it. Consider for a moment what would have happened if Ian Flemming had thought like an ‘ordinary person.’ We wouldn’t have had that extraordinary character James Bond!

To be a successful writer you need to develop insight and immigration. You need to be able to visualize and you need to develop your intuition but above all you have to be passionate about what you write. To be successful step away from the ordinary thought.

A writer hones these skills by spending time with their inner self honing the skills in doing this they learn to understand why their characters speak and act in certain ways. If you want to become a success these exercises must become a habit, just as writing daily should all ready be a habit. A number of authors I know actually keep a dairy of how their characters spend their day, what they eat and how the dress – they spend time with them.

Develop an insight and passion for your writing, spend time thinking about your characters, notice how more alive the story becomes the more you understand and have a personal relationship with your characters. Create your own vision, your own reality.