Finish something – if you do that, you’ll be miles ahead of everyone else.

If you never edit yourself, start. Don’t be afraid to cut and change.

If you edit yourself too much, stop. You will never create a perfect first draft, just get one finished.

Don’t get close friends or family to critique your work. Their praise isn’t entirely unbiased and their criticism will annoy you.

Be prepared to put the novel in a drawer and leave it for six months while you start something else. Then go back to it and see what it’s like fresh. You’ll be surprised.

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Read lots – you’ll absorb style and vocabulary
Write as often as you can – practice makes perfect
Get yourself a dedicated workspace and lots of stationery. If you want to be a writer – you need the official tools
Remember that writing isn’t easy – you will always hit sticky parts and think ‘this is rubbish’ – it’s quite normal
Don’t be held back by fear of rejection – if you have talent and resilience you will eventually find a door that opens for you and then you will be soooo glad that you fought for and won the best job in the world.

Milly’s full interview.

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Sophie Kinsella, the author of the Shopaholic series gives her five tips for new writers: 

Don’t talk about your work except to someone you absolutely trust. Certainly don’t announce to the world ‘I’m writing a novel’ as your family and friends will never stop asking you about it.

Write the book you would love to read yourself.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. You may not find your voice or style straight away.

Halfway through your project it will all seem impossible and you will be tempted to jack it in and begin another, far more exciting idea. Trust me, that idea will get difficult halfway through, too.

Finish!

Sophie’s full interview. 

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