Brilliant writing advice from famous authors

Writing! The best job in the world – but also, sometimes, the most impossible. If you’ve ever wanted to write, or you already write but are tortured by the blank page staring up at you, maybe it’s time to get some tips from the greats.

Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith, in an interview from 2010, offered this excellent nugget: 'Try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.'

I like the brutality of this simple advice. We can all fall in love with our own ideas, characters and dialogue. It’s a worthwhile skill to leave some breathing space and come back to your writing with a critical eye.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

In a 1938 letter to an aspiring author, Fitzgerald wrote: 'You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner.'

You can write about anything you like – anything! – but you have to put your heart into it.

Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut said a lot of stuff about writing in his lifetime, especially when he taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, but one of the best and simplest pieces of advice was to 'make your characters want something right away – even if it’s only a glass of water.'

Having your characters want something they cannot have is a great way to drive any story forward. It can be big or small; it could be money, divorce, revenge or war. It could be a piece of chewing gum. Just so long as the want is there.

Ursula K Le Guin

Le Guin described most writing rules as ‘hogwash’ but suggested that anyone who wants to write should read a lot first. 'The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time.'

This is why joining your local library and taking out a pile of books is an excellent use of your time!

Toni Morrison

Morrison, interviewed by The Paris Review in 1993, talked about how she juggled work and parenting at the start of her writing career. Starting to write with small children meant getting up at 5am. 'The habit of getting up early, which I had formed when the children were young, now became my choice. I am not very bright or very witty or very inventive after the sun goes down.'

Some of us work best in the morning – some of us are night owls, or find lunchtime holds a spark of creativity. Figuring out when you work best is a great way to get started, even if (like the brilliant Morrison) you’re just grabbing some time in between other responsibilities.

I hope these tips help you get unstuck and back to the page!

Listen to Aren’t We Lucky

Aren’t We Lucky by Sarah Forbes Stewart is available from Audible.co.uk from 31 March 2025.