Stephen King says you have to be a reader before you can be a writer. Read anything you can get your hands on. Be selective or just join a library and start at 'a' and work your way through. Whichever way you choose, be as avid a reader as you can. I often read books I've really liked twice - once to be swept up into the story and a second time to see how it works - taking all the nuts and bolts apart to see how the author did it. Try and read some contemporary stuff too - it's useful to know what's going on out there.
Read your work out loud. Reading out loud gives you a different perspective on your writing. You notice things you wouldn't do otherwise and you get more of a feeling for the rhythms and cadences of the writing. The other trick is - if there's a scene you are struggling with write it as a poem. It condenses it down so you gets to grips with what you are really trying to do. Also, you will be sparer with the prose when you return to it.
Kate Hamer by Mei Williams
Know that you ' ll lose confidence at some point. I estimate it happens with everybody with every single piece of work. The lack of confidence gremlins need to be stared at hard in the face until they go away. If every piece of work was abandoned when the horrible little things appear there would probably be no books.
One way of looking for an agent is to google the authors you love. See who represents them and consider that agent as an option. At least you begin with some sort of meeting point - you both like the same sort of work so you are more likely to be on the same wavelength. When you write to them you can word the letter along the lines of, 'I see you represent xxxx whose work I've always loved…' It tells the agent a little bit of where you're coming from and shows you've done your research - their name hasn't been picked completely randomly.
Write the story that is burning inside you. You might feel it is too commonplace, or too weird, or that people won't get it or that it's been done before. If you write the story you dream passionately about then that passion is more likely to shine through and it will be unique to you.
Sometimes something else just needs to go. You have to make time for your writing and sometimes you have to take a close look at your life to see what can be sacrificed to make time for it. Getting up an hour or two earlier than normal is one way of squeezing some writing into the day if there is no other free time. Working from home can be difficult because you're tempted to get the house straight or do the shopping first. Don't! Learn to scramble with all this stuff - your writing is way more important.
Make friends with your fellow writers. Twitter is particularly great for this and has a very lively scene of writers - the amwriting hashtag is very useful for finding them. They are not your competitors, they are your contemporaries. In my experience writers are a very friendly and giving bunch. I've had so much advice and encouragement from people further down the line than me. Also they know the drama, the fear and the foibles of writing - they are the only ones you can share this with properly.
Take time to dream. Thinking/dreaming time is as important as actually physically writing so never feel guilty about it. I often do the 'morning pages' as recommended by Dorothea Brande. First thing write freeform before you've properly woken. It doesn't have to be the WIP although you'll probably find that creeping in there. That time of the morning the conscious mind hasn't really kicked in properly and ideas can flow more easily.
If you ' re stuck - go and do something else for a bit. Take a walk or chat to a friend. You'll come back to it fresh then. I think sometimes you can get into a state if you force the issue - there's such a thing as banging your head against a brick wall.
Never, ever lose the faith. All routes to publication are circuitous - I don't think I've ever heard of a really straightforward one. Remember this when you come to twists in the path and don't let them put you off.
THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT by Kate Hamer is out now (Faber & Faber, £12.99)
