Guest Blog - David Scott - K.i.s.s.

DAVID SCOTT - Novelist, Consultant, Former Newspaper Editor

I was talking with David Scott last week, and I asked him if he would share his thoughts on writing, for the benefit of my readers. David is a former editor of several daily and weekly newspapers, and now runs his own media consultancy, training journalists on short, intensive, in-house courses. His first novel, The Standard Bearer, was published in 2004.

Here’s what David had to say:

K.I.S.S.

Of all the advice I have given potential writers over the last 30 years I think the most important is to remember K.I.S.S - keep it short and simple, although some disgruntled editors prefer keep it simple stupid.

Too many people think they have to start learning words from their dictionary before they can put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, when the reality is that a good story does not need you to scatter emotive adjectives or rarely used words like confetti.

SIX BASIC QUESTIONS

Good writers ensure that when they have finished they have answered six basic questions: who, what, where, how, when and why? Rudyard Kipling saluted these six elements of writing in a poem published with his Just So Stories in 1902:

I keep six honest serving men
( they taught me all I know);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

WRITE FOR FUN

If you are a new writer the best way to get going is not to worry about order, but to put your thoughts down on paper or via your computer and edit them later. You might be surprised how easy a task it becomes. When I wrote my first novel I jotted down some ideas onto two pages of A4 and then started writing for my own pleasure. I treated it as fun, something I enjoyed doing when it suited me. Sometimes I would write no more than a couple of hundred words; on other occasions I could rip off several thousand. I wrote while travelling on trains or staying in hotels or late at night when the family was in bed.

JOT DOWN IDEAS AS THEY COME

The more I wrote, the more ideas came into my head. I always carry a pen and paper on me and wherever I was I would jot down my thoughts and ideas and then add them to my story when I could. You will develop your own style and if you start to enjoy what you are doing, you will find it inspires you.

WRITE WHATEVER COMES TO YOU

I wrote what became the middle chapters of my book first. When I started I had no idea how I was going to tie it all up at the end - that came seven months later. My first chapter was too flowery and boring. You have to grab the reader's interest early on and that proved the hardest job for me which I only mastered after four attempts.

EDIT LATER

I cut out jargon and remembered the old saying that cliches should be avoided like the plague! Don't write residential accommodation when you mean houses; the vertical movement of moisture in a wall is rising damp etc etc. Finally, read your copy through carefully. Avoid silly mistakes and don't worry if you get writer's block after a few months. I had to stop writing for nearly three weeks when it hit me.

I hope you found David’s points helpful. You can check out his website here.

http://www.davidscotttraining.com