Sharon Duggal

My top tip is a bit obvious but if you want to write then you have to READ so make sure you secure some reading time in your life.

Read everything, anything, anywhere – read things you wouldn’t normally pick up, read online or offline,  e-books or physical ones, read in small snatches or reserve chunks of regular time, on waking up, before you get out of bed or when you retire at the end of the day, or in the bath, away from interruptions from partners, kids or your phone! If you don’t currently have the head space for novels, read short stories or extracts. And, if you are really not getting on with something you are reading after giving it a bit of time (I’d say 30-40 pages if it’s a novel) and it’s stopping you from reading altogether then abandon it and move on, at least for now.

Remember, reading isn’t a waste time or a frivolous activity, it is absolutely essential to learning the craft of writing-  wanting to write creatively without reading other people’s fiction is like wanting to cook without tasting different kinds of food.

When you read, note the things you particularly like or dislike about the way the author turns a phrase, constructs a sentence or approaches a description and let these things inform your own writing.

Get reading and good luck with your writing.

Sharon Duggal, author of Should We Fall Behind and The Handsworth Times

Sharonduggal.com

@MsSDuggal