Sylvia Patience, Author

My most important tip, and what I keep reminding myself, is to write and write and write. It’s so easy to be distracted. I can think of twenty other things I have to do first, including sending out query letters, researching obscure points for the manuscript, and revising for the hundredth time. All important, maybe, but if writing doesn’t come first, all these other things will suck up all my time and energy.
Take a look at this survey of many well known authors’ ten rules for writing fiction. And Philip Pullman’s rule is simply this: My main rule is to say no to things like this, which tempt me away from my proper work.