What if your story already existed? What if you were just the channel for the story to see the light of day and that all you had to do was to give up your ego and write? What if the story took shape beyond your control?

If you believed that this was true, then what do you do next?

​The story world deals with the passing of time, as well as a sense of place. There are the passing of the seasons, the wear and tear and age and decay of life. No storyworld is pristine and unmarked. There are births and marriages and death. There is the rubbish that litters the street and the wars that scar the landscape.

And within each of these moments there lies a story. It may not be the story you wish to tell, but all the same, it is there waiting to be told. The photographs on the mantlepiece, the pictures on the walls, the simple things like bowls, knives, forks, plates, bed linen. All these innocent objects were chosen not by you but by the characters who inhabit these worlds, bringing alive the blank canvas of your mind.

Look for stories in newspapers and magazines.  What grabs your attention? Look for the obstacles. What gets in the way?

Many stories might seem boring and mundane. Don’t just throw them out.

​Play around and see if you can find a way of reframing the story to make it funny or frightening.

​Never go against your beliefs. Pursue your ambitions with passion – not for thirty minutes, not thirty days, but for thirty years. And each day you will succeed.  It is about being consistent. It is about getting up each time you are knocked down, again, again, again. Remember – if at first, you don’t succeed, you are running on average.

Don’t see every problem as a nail and every solution a hammer. Be flexible.

Practice your writing, build your experience and in the end, you will succeed.