All apprenticeships begin with gaining technical skills and making small pieces. Writing is no different. We are not concerned with spelling, punctuation and grammar, we need to understand character, dialogue, plot and pace, as examples. So small exercises will build your skillset and get you writing fluently and give your brain the space to be creative. When you can rattle off 500 words without a great deal of effort, you are ready to move on.
Writing is a craft and the only way you get better is by doing it. The artisan stage of your career is building up to around 5000 words. This takes you into the realm of the short story, but also into what may be the length of a chapter. It will require some planning and forethought, but should lead you to a place where you can consider that novel, and how you might put it together.
This is an ad hoc collection of bits and pieces. The shorts are usually around 500 words and have been written in one session of an hour. They are not exemplars, they are suggestions of what you might achieve with some practice and giving yourself permission to think ‘outside the box’. The excerpts come from my own novels and will hopefully illustrate a point.
If you want to write you should read. Read as much as possible, as much variety as possible. Every author brings a new voice or viewpoint. These essays are to get you to think about writers and the place of reading in today’s world.