On my writing desk, above my computer, I have taped up a quote by Ernest Hemingway.

'It was a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old waterproof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait.  The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write.'

TOP TIPS

1.Read all the time.  Any author worth their salt should be addicted to books and should love to read, even to the point of obsession

2. Don't copy anyone else's style.  Develop your own voice.  That means don't try to write like someone else, or how you think you ought to be writing, and don't try to follow any fashion or fad or what you think is in. Write from the heart always; otherwise the fake element will filter its way in and spoil the overall effect.  Basically, INTEGRITY is what we are talking about here, and a good writer should have lots of it.

4. Be prepared for rejection. Writers have to get used to a lot of rejection and disappointment.  It's part of the game.  Don't let it get you down, and always try to keep things in perspective.

5. Don't turn writing into a chore. You hear writers say 'I always get up and write for two hours every morning.'  I like to remind myself of what J K Rowling once said in an interview with Stephen Fry (God bless him!) 'Writing a novel is not like painting a fence.'    Exactly!  And if it's good enough for J K Rowling, then it's good enough for me.  Write when you feel like it, when it suits, and for pleasure. But only when you have something to say.

6. Always allow yourself to daydream. 

I sometimes like to write last thing at night, with a moon shining outside; a magical time.  I like to feel the world has gone to sleep while my mind is still ticking over, and that's when the characters of my books come alive and demand my attention.  Maybe that's why I'm so grumpy the next morning!!! 

I'm a born daydreamer, which is great for writing, but terrible in a teacher.  I suspect other teachers find me very vague.  The kids don't seem to mind it, though.  Daydreaming is actually a very healthy activity, but not everyone else is convinced about that.

Contact me: alex.nye1@btinternet.com