Now that the term has finished (and the course for many students) it can be easy to get out of the writing habit. Here Laura Wilkinson, author of six novels and numerous short stories, and the tutor on the Advanced Writers Workshops, offers her top tips for writing to keep up your writing momentum.
- Read a lot – and in a wide variety of genres. Read books you love for a second, or third, time – with your writer’s head on. Observe how the greats do it.
- Write a lot. Writing is a craft and mindful practice will make it stronger, if not perfect. (Is there such a thing as perfection?!)
- Aim for done – not perfect. First drafts can be terrible, but without something to improve, you’ve nothing.
- Look outwards as well as inwards.
- Take risks – go deep; be dangerous and be authentic.
- Exercise. It’s good for solving plot problems as well as avoiding writers’ bottom.
- Check out Pixar’s rules of storytelling.
Happy writing!
