Brilliant writing advice from famous authors

Looking for a little bit of inspiration from the greats? Author Sarah Forbes Stewart shares her favourite writing advice from some of the best writers around.

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.

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