On my writing desk, above my computer, I have taped up a quote by Ernest Hemingway.

'It was a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old waterproof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait.  The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write.'

TOP TIPS

1. Go on.  Be brave.  Buy yourself a posh notebook and start to write. No one need know.  It's for your eyes only.

2. Read all the time.  Any author worth their salt should be addicted to books and reading.  I read obsessively. I'm not happy unless I have a good book on the go. 

3. Always write for pleasure.  Don't get too hung up on what you think you ought to write, and don't expect to become rich and famous.  Write because you enjoy it.  There can be no other reason.  It's a lovely form of creative release and escapism.  Don't try to copy anyone else's style or voice.  Write from the heart.

4. Be prepared for rejection. Writers have to get used to a lot of rejection.  It took me twenty years to publish my first novel, but I never gave up.  If you know it's your vocation, keep at it.  Don't let anyone put you off and don't be discouraged. 

I write in my room, overlooking the trees in the back garden.  I like to write in the mornings, when no one else is up, or last thing at night, with a moon shining outside.  I like to feel the world has gone to sleep while my mind is still ticking over, and that's when the characters of my books come alive and demand my attention.

Contact me: alex.nye1@btinternet.com