Monica McInerney’s latest and fifth book Family Baggage (Penguin Books) was selected as the Great Read by The Australian Women’s Weekly and was a bestseller. To all aspiring writers, Monica highly recommends Stephen King’s On Writing.
Here are Monica’s four top writing tips:
1. Space
Set aside a writing area in your house that won’t have to be packed away – a corner of the bedroom, a desk in the spare room, somwhere that everyone (especially you) knows is your writing space.
2. Take it seriously
Set yourself a minimum word count to produce every day or every week. Keep a diary of your progress. This will keep you going and give you a sense of achievement when you look back.
3. Hold off on feedback
Don’t tell too many people too early what you are doing. When the time comes to show someone, choose a person you trust will give you honest and encouraging feedback.
4. Enjoy yourself
If the fun has gone out of it or you are struggling with a section of your story, write the same scene from a different character’s point of view or use the five senses approach – what can your characters see, hear, smell, touch, taste? Either approach will nearly always get you going again.
