WRITER'S FORUM

WRITER’S BLOCK IS EASY TO REMOVE

• Any story long or short is based on five times ‘W’: Who, Why, What, When and Where; not necessarily in that order. Your story is about you; your background, what inspired you or led to the crossroads and dramas of your life. Why: Your aims, ambitions, feelings, achievements; successes and failures; when and where it happened.

• The only difference between talking and writing is for the first you use your tongue and for writing you use your finger. Simply write as if you were telling friends your story. Think tongue = finger.

• It isn’t essential to start at the beginning. You can start at the middle; get the reader intrigued in the high dramas of your life. You can then drip-feed the bookworm as to where it all began and why.

• Keep trivia to a minimum; it is filler only.

• Feelings matter; express them. Readers want to empathise; they will imagine how they would have handled your situation.

• Ignore writer’s block. Just begin to write even if it is nonsense. You can always re-write it later. Writing it like pausing at the pool’s edge; once you’re in you realise it is fun and you don’t wish to stop. Let him cook his own dinner.

• A clear author photograph helps the reader to identify better with the storyline.

• Don’t worry about spelling and syntax, grammar, flow and flair. Writing to retail standards is a gift, which few people have. Even Jeffrey Archer employs a ghost-writer. 40 percent of all books are ghosted; 80 percent of celebrity bios. Just tell it your way as if you were writing to a friend who really wants to know.

• The ghost re-writes it; corrects; edits, lengthens, shortens, adds flair, character and gives it that essential page-turning formula until you are both happy.