David Mitchell: Why I write
What advice would you give to new writers?
A maximum of one killer metaphor or simile per page should be ample, and watch out for the word "seem": it debases one's own currency, somehow. Think about how the writers who you love manage to make you love them. Prose that contains too many sentences beginning with the word "I" soon gets as tedious as people who begin too many sentences with the word "I".


I'll be adding the above to the writing resolutions. This eveing will be spent tippling on non-alcoholic champers (tastes vaguely of dry roasted peanuts, weirdly) and finalising the list of "Things to do in 2008", before putting it somewhere for safe-keeping, never to be seen again by human eye.


Put up or Shut up, Susan Hill (sort of) implored in the most recent post of her online Creative Writing course. This year I'll be putting up, and will be a veritable writing demon. The impending arrival of baby #1 has given me a focus and deadline that I have lacked previously.

Feeling very very optimistic about 2008!