Cathy Hayward
Here are my top tips for budding writers.
1. Go on a creative writing course. I did a two-year, part-time creative writing course but there are shorter online courses, and even book-based courses, which are easily accessible. It helps to focus your writing, gives you a structure and really holds your hand along the writing journey. And you meet other writers too as well as great tutors. My writing tutor Rosie Chard, a published author herself, helped me get The Girl in the Maze ready to send to agents and supported me through the submissions process.
2. Write rough. I try not to think too hard when I write, I just get the words down on the page. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think your writing is any good at that stage. Any words are better than no words. You can’t edit a blank page. Once you’ve got a rough first draft, you can go back and hone it. And you might find out that some of the material you’ve written is surprisingly good.
3. Create a writing routine: Find a time where you feel at your most creative. For me, it’s early morning and I’ve written about my routine on my blog but for others to might be during the day or late at night. Finding a writing place can also be helpful in getting those creative juices to flow – it’s as if the writing gods know that when I sit down at this time in this place, I’m there to write.
4. Write what you know. I started writing about a woman dealing with her estranged mother’s death. That story became The Girl in the Maze. It was only several thousand words in that I realised I was writing about me. My mother, who I hadn’t then seen for four years, had died and I was trying to process her death. If you write what you know, it will be true, even when it’s fiction.
5. Write every day, even if it’s only a sentence. The writing muscle is like any other muscle. It gets stronger the more it’s exercised.
Good luck and keep posted on how you get on!
1. Go on a creative writing course. I did a two-year, part-time creative writing course but there are shorter online courses, and even book-based courses, which are easily accessible. It helps to focus your writing, gives you a structure and really holds your hand along the writing journey. And you meet other writers too as well as great tutors. My writing tutor Rosie Chard, a published author herself, helped me get The Girl in the Maze ready to send to agents and supported me through the submissions process.
2. Write rough. I try not to think too hard when I write, I just get the words down on the page. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think your writing is any good at that stage. Any words are better than no words. You can’t edit a blank page. Once you’ve got a rough first draft, you can go back and hone it. And you might find out that some of the material you’ve written is surprisingly good.
3. Create a writing routine: Find a time where you feel at your most creative. For me, it’s early morning and I’ve written about my routine on my blog but for others to might be during the day or late at night. Finding a writing place can also be helpful in getting those creative juices to flow – it’s as if the writing gods know that when I sit down at this time in this place, I’m there to write.
4. Write what you know. I started writing about a woman dealing with her estranged mother’s death. That story became The Girl in the Maze. It was only several thousand words in that I realised I was writing about me. My mother, who I hadn’t then seen for four years, had died and I was trying to process her death. If you write what you know, it will be true, even when it’s fiction.
5. Write every day, even if it’s only a sentence. The writing muscle is like any other muscle. It gets stronger the more it’s exercised.
Good luck and keep posted on how you get on!
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