The first book I bought as soon as I moved to my new house was selected one evening in February at my local Daunt Books. I remember killing time, shelf to shelf, even though killing time isn't accurate. I always go into bookshops with this idea that I've got ten minutes to kill so I may as well, then I always come out with some loot. That isn't really killing time then, is it? Still, when I scroll through my online banking I often tell myself that Hatchard's, all the Daunts, Slightly Foxed, Sandoe and Persephone have me to thank for staying in business. What was I saying...? Right, one bitterly cold night in February, yadda yadda. They're my very favourite type of nights. So I'm in Daunt Chelsea and I find myself in that corner they call REFERENCE. Among the dictionaries and grammar books and Reading Like A Writer (why, oh why is it always sitting in REFERENCE?), I found Write. It is split into four sections and can be described as a composite book on the art and tribulations of writing. The fundamentals of fiction set out how to write according to Andrew Miller, Kate Mosse, Meg Rosoff and others. How I wrote tells us a little bit about how certain authors managed to get their masterpieces across to the finishing line. Susan Hill, AS Byatt, Iain Banks, Margaret Drabble and others contributed to this section. A few final tips are provided by three other authors, one of... Read more →