The points I mention below are relevant to all kinds of writing whether it be fiction, non fiction, writing for adults and/or youngsters. Though many may seem obvious, considering them could be useful.

Setting Yourself Up.

• Ask yourself: why am I writing this? Give yourself a good reason and then stick to it.

• Who are you writing it for? Yourself? Your children? The general public?

• If you still feel the urge to write, ignore those friends and family who will actively discourage you because they are worried you might fictionalise them.

• Establish a time for writing and stick to it in spite of other commitments.

• Establish a comfortable place to write and keep to it.

• Will you handwrite your story or type into a computer? If you plan to publish this it will have to end up on a computer file.

• Join a library and look up other work in the same genre

• Haunt bookshops for the above.

• Decide on some limit for your book. For example, when I wrote ‘The Youngest Cameleer’ I decided to stop at the discovery of Uluru because this is what William Gosse’s expedition is most noted for.

Above all talk less and write more. Too many would be writers spend too much time discussing their work and too little time actually doing it. Too many say ‘I’ve got a book in me,’ and that’s as far as they go. Are you one of them?