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writing time that you are actually working on your novel. Again eliminate those distractions for that period of time. Take the phone off the hook, turn off the television, put the dog in the hall and the kids can join him out there too if you like. Whatever it takes so that for that specific period of time you are a writer.

Right so you have your big idea, you have a place to write and you've taken the time that otherwise would have been used to watch reruns of your favorite show and put it to one side. Now how the hell do you start writing it all down?

Start by writing a chapter or two, any chapters, anywhere in the work. Personally when I start a new project I write the first three and the last three chapters or pages because I usually know where I'm starting and where I want to end up, it's the middle bit that causes the problems. This first foray isn't about anything but giving yourself he confidence to know that you can do this, that you will do this. Also it allows you to set yourself a benchmark for the minimum standard of writing you will accept from yourself. Finally actually having something written down probably will help you crystallize the outline of your idea that little bit more helping to lead you nicely to the next stage.

You have a starting, middle or ending point, but what next? Resist the urge to plunge in without forethought. Do you remember that novel you read once probably on holiday? The one that was unsatisfying, the one that seemed so uneven, with badly drawn characters and plot holes so large that the continent of Asia could have happily slide through them. Odds are that the writer of that piece of utter claptrap just plunged straight in. He may in fact have had the best thing since Harry Potter on his hands when he started but somewhere along the way that was lost. So plan, plan, plan and the plan a hell of a lot more. Your sanity and editor will thank you later.

Start with a plot outline of a page or so of what the overall story is about. Then see if it can be summarized in a sentence or at most two. That outline and the one sentence summary are what you keep in mind while you do the rest of your planning.

Now plan your characters and chapters. Names, ages, physical description, occupation are all of course vital but don't forget to include things like places of birth, accents, dress styles, most and least favorite foods, allergies. Do they sing in the shower? Are they left or right handed? Can they drive and what do they drive? What

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