Firstly, write. Don’t put it off, hide in ‘How To’ books and writing conferences (which can be fab but can also be a legitimate excuse to delay starting to write), or tell yourself you can’t do it. Writing is a constant apprenticeship: you learn how to do it by doing it!
Secondly, when you start writing, chuck away the ‘aspiring’ tag. You’re only an aspiring writer if you want to write but aren’t doing it yet. Once you’re writing, you’re a writer.
And lastly, always, ALWAYS write for you first. The lovely, much-missed Terry Pratchett said, ‘The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.’ So write it for you. Don’t worry about the market, trends, genre or anything else: tell the story you want to tell. And have fun doing it! Fun isn’t frivolous – it’s a vital writing tool. If you love what you do, you’ll keep doing it, and nothing will deter you.
Miranda Dickinson has always had a head full of stories. From an early age she dreamed of writing a book that would make the heady heights of Kingswinford Library and today she is a bestselling author. She began to write in earnest when a friend gave her The World’s Slowest PC, and has subsequently written six bestselling novels: Fairy-tale of New York, Welcome to My World, It Started With a Kiss, When I Fall in Love, Take A Look At Me Now and I’ll Take New York. Miranda lives with her husband Bob and daughter Flo in Dudley.
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First published 2015 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2015 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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ISBN 978-1-4472-7604-3
Copyright © Miranda Dickinson 2015
Cover photographs © Thomas Vogel/iStock and Shutterstock
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