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Award-winning writer Martyn Hesford encourages budding writers to break the rules, keep on going, and “believe in yourself. Tenacity is everything.”

The BAFTA-nominated writer behind such gems as Mrs Lowry and Son was born in Salford and graduated from grammar school to study acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

For close to a decade, he worked as an actor in many of the country’s best-loved theatres, including The National, the Royal Court, the Crucible, and the Bristol Old Vic, as well as earning leading roles in television and film.

But it was winning the Radio Times Drama Award for his first screenplay, A Small Mourning, that led to a permanent change of career.

Martyn’s ability for getting beneath the skin of characters with his writing led to a string of successes, including ITV’s The Old Curiosity Shop starring Derek Jacobi and Martin Freeman, Sky’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with John Hannah and David Warner, and BBC Four’s Fantabulosa! starring Michael Sheen. He has also scripted numerous popular stage and radio plays.

However, it was Martyn’s first feature film script which projected his work to the widest international audience.

Adapted from his highly acclaimed theatre play, Mrs Lowry and Son portrays the embittered relationship between artist L.S. Lowry and his bedridden mother.

Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Spall, Martyn’s character study brilliantly captures the talent and humour of the artist, while remaining sympathetic and true to his bleak existence under his mother’s control.

Another feature-film biopic, this time of Danny La Rue, is currently in pre-production.

Having also just released his first poetry collection through PublishNation, Martyn believes that while scripts and stanzas require different writing approaches, they achieve similar results.

He said: “For me, both are a form of magic – putting words on a page is writing spells.

“We are transported – anything is possible.

“It’s all feeling – but with different lights and shades.

“Characters/films need to keep moving – the story must keep moving – everything feeds the story.

“Poetry is invisible – what’s not said is as important as the said. Poetry happens in between the words.

“Poetry is an unexplained sigh while a film is about wanting to know what caused the character to sigh.

“Poetry might take a lifetime to understand, or you might never truly understand it.

“You can savour a word, a line.

“Film usually leads you on a journey – a beginning, a middle, the end. Poetry just is.”

Martyn’s anthology, Lilac White, has been described by Sir Derek Jacobi as being ‘beautifully imagined’ and ‘cleverly written’.

Former Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director, Adrian Noble, writes, ‘This is a remarkable first collection. There is a delicacy in the writing, a numinous beauty… You enter his world and are held by his spell.’

Martyn’s poetry is stunningly minimalistic, yet deeply moving.

Exploring the magical, the mystical and the sacred, his talent for evocative tones and vivid imagery shines throughout his collection.

Although influenced by poets such as Samuel Beckett and Jean Cocteau, Martyn admits he enjoys ripping up the rule book when it comes to composing his own stanzas – as well as his scripts.

He said: “When I’m writing, I let the feelings speak.

“I create my own structure for each piece – something that has come with instinct.

“Doing it, reading, watching, listening – there must always be structure of some kind holding everything together.

“I speak all my writing aloud – it must hold together in the air – a sort of density underneath everything.

“I’m all for knowing the rules – but smashing them up. Finding my own way. Asking myself why? How?

“I went to grammar school and became a punk. So that sums it up, really.

“Rules, once you know them, are made to be broken. A work is its own piece. Its own heart.”

Having established himself as one of the country’s leading cotemporary script and play writers, it could be assumed Martyn doesn’t lose too much sleep over the looming reaction for his latest work.

But having just published Lilac White and having both a novel, The Moon is Blue, and new film, Danny La Rue, in the pipeline he admits those ‘opening-night’ nerves still grip him.

Martyn added: “We all want our work liked, so yes, I’m nervous of people’s reactions – I’m human!

“But I have no doubt about the work.

“I have been on a journey for a long time, and I can only write the way I find life, what I feel, what I think I know. Truthfully. Without tricks.

“I hope others might find something of themselves in the work, something they identify within.

“It’s a mirror, writing, isn’t it?

“The secret to anything is: keep on going. Doing it.”

This is our second blog featuring writing advice from John Grisham. Click here to read the first article.

Former lawyer John Grisham has been described as the greatest storyteller of his generation, and few can argue with the evidence. Since Grisham released his first novel ‘A Time to Kill’ in 1989, he has gone on to sell more than 300 million books – producing 28 consecutive number-one bestsellers.

But what makes him stand out from the crowd?

In his own words, the ability for ‘storytelling’.

INFLUENCES

Now 65 years old and having recently published his 42^nd novel, Grisham admits he had little in the way of training for becoming a writer, and the influences on his style, pace and plotting were gathered from various sources throughout his formative years. He advises that recognising what works is key for anyone wanting to emulate great storytelling.

He explained: “Storytelling, for me, isn’t something you can teach. I grew up in a large family of storytellers and great liars. I heard so many wonderful stories being told while sitting on our front porch.

“You listen and you slowly learn.

“I also read thousands of books – that’s where you learn the art of pacing and plotting. There are two books that, if not inspired me to be a writer, certainly nudged me towards writing, and they were John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and ‘Little Drummer Girl’ by John le Carré.

“My English teacher made us read John Steinbeck. We started with ‘Tortilla Flat’, which was pretty cool. It was a shock for my teacher to see me take an interest as I’d been considered an athlete rather than an academic. She then started giving me Steinbeck novels to read – saving the best to last.

“’The Grapes of Wrath’ tells an absolutely sad story, in such a beautiful way. I remember at the time thinking if I could be a writer I would want to write like this.

“I read ‘Little Drummer Girl’ a couple of years before I became a writer. Just before I started work on my first novel I went back and read it again.”

KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING

Sourcing and recognising influences is one thing, but sprinkling their storytelling methods and styles into your own work isn’t all that straightforward. A great storyteller still requires their own voice, and that’s where planning comes in. Grisham spends almost as much time on the outlining of his novels as he does writing them. For a story to be great, writers need to know where they are going.

“I don’t write the first scene of any book until I know the last scene. If you outline and plan your story well, it’s difficult to get lost.

“I always know where I am going with any story.”

DISCIPLINE

And once you know where you are going, how do you get there? Although the greatest storytellers will all have varying routines for producing their memorable works, Grisham is adamant that regimented discipline is vital for maintaining both style and pace of the story.

He concluded: “I write for five days a week in the same office, with the same coffee and on the same computer.

“There is no internet, no phones and no other distractions. I usually write from 7am for around three hours. On a good day I’ll write six or seven pages – say 2,000 words – and on a not so good day I’ll write around 1,000 words.

“I don’t change anything other than the story.”

With his meticulous planning and discipline, the storytelling comes to life on the page. We don’t need a judge and jury to reach a verdict of ‘successful’.

Ian Rankin’s reign at the top of the book charts can be traced back more than thirty years, and his latest novel, A Song for Dark Times, has topped almost every bestseller list in the country.

But the 60-year-old, whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages, understands better than most the difficulties of finding the formula for continued success.

Having produced roughly a novel each year since the release of The Flood in 1986, Rankin has become an expert in finding the plots, sub-plots, and characters to keep readers coming back for more.

Two of the most obvious, but regularly overlooked, tips Ian has for all writers is to Read Lots and to Write Lots.

The best writers are avid readers, and often take inspiration from their peers.

Four years after Rankin graduated from Edinburgh University, he completed his story of Mandy Miller for publication, and twelve months later, he published his first Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses.

During the years before he became a full-time novelist, he worked as a grape-picker, a swineherd, a journalist, and a taxman. He believes gaining experiences is key to Having a Story to Tell.

But persistence is also a major factor in getting the story you want to tell over the finishing line. As Ian says: Don’t Give Up.

The multi-award-winning writer is also adamant that criticism is a vital part of the writing process.

He advises all budding authors to Learn to be Self-Critical throughout the drafting process, and also to Learn what Criticism to Accept from external sources.

As well as his celebrated novels, Ian has also written a stage play, published three collections of short stories, and released a novella and a graphic novel.

He has also written under the pseudonym Jack Harvey.

But he has always been reluctant to drift too far from the crime genre that has brought him so many book sales.

As he explains, he believes all authors should Know the Market.

Readers usually have a preferred story genre, and it is worth knowing what is currently popular.

Like every other successful author out there, Rankin works hard to perfect his trade, but he does admit that skill, research, and determination can only go far.

His final tips for making it as a writer are simple – Get Lucky and Stay Lucky.

It was Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes who ruined Rupert Frazer’s first attempt at gaining a writing credit.

But there have been no hard feelings from the celebrated 73-year-old actor as he has gone on to star in the award-winning period drama.

And now, after teaming up for a second time with PublishNation, he has finally released his first work of published fiction.

The Crimson Pantomime is a highly enjoyable and deeply engaging debut novel set within the deceptive and often unpredictable world of acting.

The convincing and thoroughly gripping narrative is described as being ‘as juicy as a Christmas pudding’ by fellow actor Sir Ian McKellen.

Rupert has appeared in some of the country’s most memorable television programmes, including Foyle’s War, Prime Suspect, and more recently Coronation Street, as well as such epic films as Gandhi and Empire of the Sun.

And he can look back on a theatre career stretching back to 1970, which has seen him share the stage of the Citizens, Royal National, and Royal Court theatres with such greats as Laurence Olivier, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, and John Gielgud.

It was following a role beside Gielgud in the 1985 film adaptation of The Shooting Party that Rupert was first drawn towards a writing project.

Impressed with Isabel Colegate’s pre-war novel, he went on to buy the rights to another of her classics, Statues in the Garden.

Rupert’s screenplay adaptation of the country estate drama was well received, but before he could begin pitching to production companies, another pre-war period adaptation stole his thunder.

Rupert explained: “Isabel Colegate expressed her approval of my screenplay adaptation of Statues in the Garden, and everything was looking good, but Julian Fellowes beat me to it by doing Gosford Park.

“There wasn’t room for another drama from a 1930s country estate at the same time.

“Julian, of course, went on to do Downton Abbey after that.”

Rupert had to wait until series six of Downton Abbey to make his appearance as Neville Chamberlain.

Despite his early screenplay setback, Rupert worked with the team at PublishNation to produce his critically-acclaimed family memoir, Relative Times, in 2013.

The beautifully recalled homage to seven members of his family, who had come through colonial and world wars, was seamlessly pieced together with anecdotes of how each in turn had influenced his acting career.

Rupert said: “I have had the most extraordinary life, and I wanted to honour the generations before me who made it all possible and helped me become what I am.

“I have done all of my things on stage or in front of a camera, yet they did a lot of the same things in real life, coming through several wars.

“Relative Times was an act of gratitude.”

Although Rupert did finish a novel in the 1990s, which remains unpublished and securely locked away in a drawer, it was the writing and publishing of Relative Times which provided the confidence to progress on to The Crimson Pantomime.

With the help of a writing group in South East London, and on a mission to right a literary wrong, the father-of-three has spent several years developing his characters and the narrative.

He explained: “I read a novel by someone rather famous about acting and it was terrible – just full of cliches.

“I know what it’s like to be an actor and there is nothing cliched about it – I wanted to introduce the aspects of my profession that are fairly unknown, yet very much real.

“The good thing about the writing group I belong to is that they keep you in your place – we often go home from meetings bleeding.

“I made a good start on The Crimson Pantomime and the writing group told me it could go two ways – an airport novel or something a bit better.”

Thankfully, Rupert’s finished novel is much more than airport fare.

And with help once more from the PublishNation team, it was released during the summer, yet again to critical acclaim.

The Crimson Pantomime probes the blurred lines between reality and illusion, and the psychological challenges that the profession demands.

As well as a being a compelling page-turner of a thriller, Rupert’s novel is a convincing study of the complex layers that make up identity.

Sir Ian McKellen is among the many industry insiders who have been won over by The Crimson Pantomime.

He said: “Rupert Frazer’s tale skilfully leads you into a world where gossip bumps up against melodrama and the wayward passions of his cast – a pantomime perhaps, but as juicy as a Christmas pudding.

“Like the best fiction, it makes you wonder whether it is, in fact, fact.”

On top of the star endorsements, The Crimson Pantomime has also received a string of five-star reviews from other readers since its release.

Reviewer David Austin stated: “… it is a captivating, irresistible story.

“At over 400 pages, it is not a short novel, but it is hard to put down, and it will not leave you for some time after you have.”

Following the initial success of The Crimson Pantomime, Rupert has begun work on an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s influential play, Das Weite Land.

Does Snapchat or Facebook, or a smartphone, have a place in literature?

If anyone can be credited for creating a credible correlation between the latest communication methods and prose, it’s Irish author Sally Rooney.

Whether you have read the Man Booker-nominated Normal People or watched the prime-time BBC television adaptation, it’s easy to see why the 29-year-old from Dublin is being championed as the voice of the millennials.

As with her 2017 debut novel, Conversations with Friends, Sally explores modern relationships with all their pressures of the present-day, and doesn’t shy away from the everyday use of online connectivity.

But she is the first to admit she struggled to plug modern technology into her early attempts at writing.

Sally, who was named as The Sunday Times 2017 Young Writer of the Year, explained: “I was in my late teens and early twenties… I found it really hard to set stories I was writing in the present day because the present didn’t have a literary enough quality to it.

“I was reading Franny and Zooey and Raymond Carver, and I felt that in order to write something literary, it had to be like that – stuff set in New York in the 1950s.

“I felt like my characters can have telephones but they can’t have mobile phones.

“They can have a radio but I won’t give them a TV.

“Then I started reading Miranda July’s short story collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You, and I realized that literariness was in the sentences. That was a big moment for me.”

Whether it’s on Brontë’s 18th century rugged Yorkshire moors or the Victorian streets of Dickens’ London, the greatest novels almost always have relationships at their heart.

But today’s relationships are often multi-faceted with social media and emails having as big a role as the face-to-face and physical aspects.

In Sally’s first novel, Conversations with Friends, Messenger and email were crucial to the relationship between central characters, Frances, Bobbi, Nick and Melissa.

And she didn’t shy away from using the immediate language associated with type-chat for much of her book.

She added: “I spend so much of my time writing emails to my friends, and the voice that I have when I’m writing emails feels like my voice.

“That’s me writing, trying to communicate something to someone, who I trust, as I would like to trust a reader.

“Obviously Frances isn’t me, but the voice that she uses in the book isn’t dissimilar to the voice she uses in Instant Messenger and email.

“And we know that she’s a writer in the book, and she gets a story published, but the only writings we ever read of hers are her emails and messages.

“They are texts that she produces in her voice, and they are part of her writing life, even if they’re not ‘creative writing’.

“Messenger is definitely closer to speech than to email because it’s spontaneous, and you can’t revise and work on and shape each message without breaking the flow of the conversation.

“You just type what you have to say and hit return, then type another one and hit return again, and whatever editing you do is with an asterisk.

“Instant messaging does sit on that interesting border between text and conversation.”

Horror author Helen Cardwell admits the biggest shock she’s ever experienced was when her debut novel became an instant bestseller.

The 40-year-old from Leicestershire realised a lifelong dream when The House in the Attic went to print back in 2012.

But within weeks of the self-published horror story being released it had shot to number one in the Amazon book charts, knocking Susan Hill’s novel-turned-film, The Woman in Black, off the top spot.

And nobody was more surprised than Helen.

She explained: “I’d been writing short stories and poetry for years, and when I began work on The House in the Attic I thought it would just be another short ghost story based on the gothic-themed dolls-house my sister owned.

“As the idea expanded, so did the story and it was suddenly a book.

“I looked to get The House in the Attic published by a mainstream publisher, but the response I had was what actually motivated me to self-publish instead.

“One told me that while the story was of interest they were not prepared to take a chance on an unproven author and another told me there was no market for books where ghosts came back to haunt the living – hilarious, as my bookcase is full of books by authors who write about precisely that.

“I figured I had nothing to lose by just getting the book into print for my family and friends’ amusement.

“When it became a number one bestseller on Amazon I was astounded. I never imagined such a thing could happen.”

Since the overnight success of her first novel, Helen has continued to self-publish books through PublishNation.

Almost all of her proceeding horror and fantasy novels have also reached number one in the charts.

And her latest release, The Memory of Moths, has just won the coveted horror category at the Pinnacle Book Awards in America.

Helen usually takes around a year to complete each novel – depending mainly on the amount of required research.

But, uniquely for a contemporary writer, she always completes the first draft by pen.

Helen explained: “I always jot the basic plot and character backgrounds first.

“Then I write the whole first draft by hand.

“Once it goes onto computer it gets checked three times to ensure everything is as right as it can be.

“I then call it done.

“I’m an obsessive when it comes to everything work wise, and if I didn’t make myself stop I’d never publish anything as I’m never really happy with my work.”

One thing Helen is happy with is the services of PublishNation.

And she recommends that anyone with a desire to become an author should follow her down the self-publishing path.

Helen added: “I’ve achieved things I never dreamed were possible when I started out on this adventure.

“I have spoken to few people who are writing books as they find my experience interesting.

“Some are surprised to find that you can achieve the things I have through self-publishing, others think unless you’ve made a few million pounds you still can’t class yourself as a successful writer.

“It depends on how much you think money is a sign of success, I guess.

“For me, being an award-winning, bestselling author is a dream come true.

“I love how much control self-publishing gives you over your work.

“It is easy and so straight forward, and PublishNation made it easier than I imagined it to be.

“From the first contact through to the final proofs they did all they could to make my journey enjoyable and successful, and the fees charged are unbelievably reasonable.

“They were friendly and went beyond the call of duty in helping get my work out there.”

Not every self-publishing author surpasses their literary expectations and achieves success. But Swiss-based management consultant Scott Chapman is one of the growing number who has – time and time again.

The 57-year-old Glaswegian’s through-the-centuries Templar detective novels have continued to top the charts and attract five-star reviews over the past seven years. His hugely popular Peter Sparke series has also unexpectedly become a lucrative side income.

Scott admits that considering himself a writer was the biggest thrill when publishing his first novel back in 2013.

He explained: “It was my brother who said that there was no reason I shouldn’t try writing a book.

“He tends to be worth listening to, so I wrote a few thousand words and just kept going.

“From first words to first draft took about four months.

“I learned that I could write, not to say write well, but that I could complete a novel with some degree of competence.

“Becoming successful as a writer since then has been a huge surprise – I once met someone through work who did not know I was an author and he was actually in the process of reading one of my books. It was like falling through a mirror.”

Scott used PublishNation to ease his way into self-publishing his debut novel, The Templar Vault.

And he has remained loyal to the company with each of his subsequent novels: The Kaiser’s Navigator, The Templar Tower, The Templar Thief, The Templar Scroll, The Templar Key, and The Templar Shroud.

The partnership continues to produce its own critical and financial success story.

Scott continued: “At first it was a real shocker to see the sales numbers grow.

“The people at PublishNation set up my Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing account for me and I could watch the sales and downloads happening in real time.

“It was really exciting for me, but I feel sorry for my wife who had to listen to me give constant updates.

“Self-publishing gives me everything I want, both creatively and commercial, that’s why the PublishNation way of working really helps.

“I have access to great people across the board, but the final product is all mine. I’d rather do an adequate book that I felt I owned than a better book that was the product of a committee.

“Commercially, it works well for me too. I use Kindle exclusively, so I keep most of the cover price myself.

“I’m sure conventional publishers know a lot about books, but I find that the PublishNation people seem to know a lot about writers and that means a lot more to me.”

From the first few chapters of Templar Vault, Scott has gradually developed his own unique approach to planning and writing each novel.

He explained: “I nearly always have a person in mind that I am writing for – it helps me focus and to think about quality.

“It’s a case of think, scribble, plan, write. I rarely read the scribbles but need to go through that stage to work things out.

“Once I start, it often goes off in ways I had never expected, especially when a character starts speaking.

“For me, writing means completing something and that means watching the wordcount.

“I have a ‘working’ file and a ‘manuscript’ file.

“When I finish a scene, I copy paste it into the manuscript and watch the wordcount change – that’s my little checkpoint.

“I passed the 10,000 word point on my latest book this week and that felt good.”

All of Scott Chapman’s novels are available on Amazon.

Creating that perfect character is something every author aspires to. While several have succeeded in recent years, finding that all-important protagonist who will appeal to almost everyone remains one of the holy grails of modern fiction-writing.

One author who can lay claim to having found all the ingredients that work is Jeff Kinney. The 47-year-old creator, illustrator, and author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has sold more than 200 million books over the past 12 years. And sales of the hugely popular titles show no signs of slowing down.

At the heart of Kinney’s success is none other than the Wimpy Kid himself, Gregory Heffley. It’s fair to say every teenager has a bit of Greg in them – awkward, paranoid, mischievous and, at times, totally dishonest. There’s often a lack of logic to his thinking, a constant need for attention, and there’s also the love/hate relationship with his family. And it’s all these faults that make him so appealing to so many readers of different ages.

Jeff, who is working on his 15th Diary, has plenty of advice for anyone wanting to follow in his footsteps.

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

“First, I’d encourage an aspiring author or illustrator to try to think of an original idea, and then nurture it. It can take years to develop a winning idea, but it’s worth it!

Second, try to write a short story in the style of a writer you admire because when you imitate style, it helps you to understand how they did what they did.

Then, you can add this to your toolkit and use it as you develop your own style.

Finally, find a person who can give you honest criticism.”

Where do you get the ideas for your characters?

“The Heffley family is very loosely based on my own family. Greg is made up of all my worst parts from adolescence.

I do strive to remember funny things from my childhood, then I put those memories in the fiction blender and they sometimes wind up in the books.”

Did you always want to be a writer?

“No, I actually grew up wanting to be a newspaper cartoonist, but nobody would syndicate my work. I finally had success when I snuck my comics into books.”

What made you decide to write books for kids?

“The first Wimpy Kid book was published in 2007. I worked on Wimpy Kid for eight years before I felt ready to show it to anyone. All that time, I thought I was writing one giant manuscript – approximately 1,300 pages – for adults. It was meant to be a sort of reflection on what it was like to be in middle school.

When I found an editor who liked the material, I was told that instead, what I had written was a children’s series – NOT a book for adults.”

How long does it take you to write a book?

“It takes about nine months to create a new Wimpy Kid book. Six months to come up with all the ideas/jokes – I need 350 per book – one month to write it, and two months to illustrate.”

Lee Child is one of modern literature’s most unlikely success stories – because he ignores the rules and writes just for himself.

If this world-famous sought-after author told you he doesn’t plan a single plot and has always ignored advice being offered, would you believe him?

Only picking up the pen after being made redundant from his job with Granada TV, James Grant has gone on to become one of the biggest-selling authors of the 21st century.

Under the pseudonym of Lee Child, he has sold more than 100 million novels around the world, had his books turned into blockbuster movies, and he continues to collect award after award.

So, you would expect the Jack Reacher creator to have had at least a loose plan on where his books were going and where they would take him.
But, surprisingly he rarely thinks beyond the next page.

To mark the anniversary of being made redundant, on every September 1 Grant will sit down with a blank page and somehow turn out yet another best-seller.
Drifting between first- and third-person narratives, each new novel is just as successful as the previous one.

But, what is the secret to becoming one of the most highly-anticipated novelists?
Grant’s main tip for self-publishing authors is to ignore advice and write the book you want to read.

My honest answer is ignore advice because it’s got to be your product. It’s got to be an organic product with a vital, vivid integrity of its own and you’ll never get that if you’re worried about what other people are telling you to do.

I write exclusively for the reader. I’m not interested in winning prizes or critical acclaim, I just want to give readers a few good days of entertainment. Happily, I’ve got a lot of readers but I can’t unconceptualise an idea – so I come back to myself. I am the reader. I write one book a year and I read hundreds. But you never find a book that’s 100% what you want, so you have to write it yourself.
In general, writers, especially beginner writers, are very nervous and insecure.

People have a clear idea of what they want to do and there are rules that aren’t rules – they’re just advice, and sometimes bad advice. Showing not telling is one face of bad advice. There is no reason why you can’t tell something in a plain, declarative style. Classic post-war thriller writers just sat down and told a story, and the idea that you should not is very twisted and forces people to pass on information in a very weird way. My main point is always to avoid advice. Books only work if they are vivid and organic and have one imagination in charge.

But thankfully the author of such number one bestsellers as Killing Floor, Tripwire, A Wanted Man, and The Midnight Line does offer up a few suggestions for following in his footsteps.

I try to do about 1500 words in a day. That is comfortable for me. It’s a lot less than some people do. If I’m pushing it, which I usually am, 2000 words, because by the time you get close to the deadline you’ve frittered a lot of time away and done other things, so I’m usually in a bit of a rush.

To be a great writer, you need to be a great reader.

You’ve got to have read thousands of books and then you internalise that rhythm.

You internalise the grammar of cliff hangers and pace and so on. I just start at the beginning, make it up, and somehow get to the end.

As with most other leading novelists, Grant acknowledges that characters are key.
It’s all about people, it’s about character. If the plot works well, that’s a bonus, but it’s the characters that people remember. Here’s my classic example that I always quote: the Lone Ranger. Everybody in the world has heard of the Lone Ranger. Nobody in the world could tell you a single storyline from a Lone Ranger show.
But don’t get too close to your creations.

At that point writers start to get defensive and feel a bit inhibited about putting in the bad stuff and negative characteristics. When I started writing, I always made sure I kept Reacher slightly at arm’s length. Ideally, I want me to like him a little less than you’re going to like him and that keeps him fresh. It keeps him honest, warts and all. It turns him into a real person, rather than a cartoon character.

With so many budding novelists vying for attention on Amazon, Grant is also quick to highlight the need for a powerful opening to your book.

If you’re ever going to submit a book for publication, obviously some people start reading it. So, the first line, the first paragraph, the first page has got to be utterly compelling. If you can do that, then you’re home and dry because that’s what people want. They want a book where they pick it up and they’re instantly hooked.

Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher novel, Blue Moon, is now available.

Advice for improving your writing can be found far and wide. An array of influential linguists, creative writing tutors and, of course, published authors, all freely offer their opinions on crafting the perfect sentence, paragraph, chapter and novel.

But, here at PublishNation, to avoid the constant contradictions, we thought we’d step back in time and learn from one of the storytelling masters. Eric Arthur Blair, or George Orwell to you and me, is widely accepted as one of the most important writers of the 20^th century.

A Clergyman’s Daughter, Animal Farm, Nineteen-Eighty-Four and Keep the Aspidistra Flying are regarded as being among some of the best novels ever written in the English language.

Orwell’s essays, journalism, and non-fiction books, such as Down and Out in Paris and London or The Road to Wigan Pier, also offer lucid prose and lasting reflections of social history.

Orwell, though, was a teacher as well as a writer, and in his essay Politics and the English Language, he produced six golden rules for every writer to follow.

More than 70 years on, Orwell’s prescriptions for penning perfect sentences and paragraphs are as relevant as ever.

1. Orwell could identify superfluous words at a mile – if it’s possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
2. According to Orwell, interesting developments within any story rely on the verbs – never use the passive where you can use the active.
3. He was also a great proponent of keeping it simple – never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
4. And always keep it original – never use a cliché, metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you often hear or see in print.
5. Orwell was never impressed by lengthy words that don’t belong – never use a long word where a short one will do.
6. Orwell’s sixth and final rule speaks for itself – break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

In essence, Orwell championed precise and clear language as the foundations for any piece of writing. He also offered recommendations on tutoring yourself to produce the type of sentences that made him so successful in his writing.

On sitting in front of, not a typewriter anymore, but a laptop, the scrupulous writer, in every sentence that they write, according to Orwell, will ask themselves at least four questions:

What am I trying to say?

What words will express it?

What image or idiom will make it clearer?

Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

Orwell stated, “One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails.” To be on the safe side, he added a further two rules to consider when reading back your original draft:

Could I put it more shortly? Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

George Orwell was only 46 when he died in 1950. As well as leaving a remarkable legacy of published works, he also left some valuable advice for all of us wanting to improve our writing.