Read lots. Write lots.
Ian Rankin
Summer holidays. Now is the time to take Ian Rankin’s advice. ‘Read lots. Write lots.’ Ian Rankin writes crime novels. He lives in Edinburgh and most of his stories are set there or nearby. He is not the only writer to give that advice: Read lots. Write lots.
Read things you love. Read things that are new, push beyond the first few pages, you may find that the book will welcome you in. Read everything you can find by an author who writes as you would like to write. Read things that are perhaps not your first choice. It is usually worth the effort. Read graphic novels and picture books. Read poetry and short stories. Read. Read. Read.
What you read will leach into what you write. Try things out. Set yourself a time or a number of words, or lines or pages. Write every day, just as you might exercise every day. Don’t worry too much about what you are writing. Just get into the flow of it. Write. Write. Write.
Writing Box 