• Be sure what you want to say before you begin. This means being certain of your ending – it isn’t necessary to know how a story ends, but it is important to know at what point it ends. All works of art require a frame. • Being certain of your ending doesn’t rule out a conclusion to a story that’s ambivalent – as long as you know you’re heading towards that and not putting in an ambivalent ending simply because you can’t think of an ending. • Decide who’s telling the story. Beware of writing in the first person if there’s a twist at the end. As the narrator already knows what’s going to happen, the reader can feel cheated. This may be unfair but it seems to hold as a general rule. • This rule doesn’t apply to stories about other people or situations. It’s perfectly OK to start a story ‘I had known Harris for nearly thirty years and would never have thought he was capable, physically or mentally, of committing the crime of which he was accused…’. • While the ability to describe the physical environment in which your characters interact is useful, it’s not absolutely essential. Don’t waste time on it in your first draft. • Also remember that description can be used to heighten and strengthen the theme of the story. A study of a man who feels trapped by his life can employ descriptive language that makes the world he inhabits feel claustrophobic. • The same applies to physical descriptions of the characters. To begin with it is worth sticking to the rule that the descriptions are included if they add to character. • Don’t get it right, get it written. If you have to assemble the first draft of the story from cliches and hack dialogue, do it. You can always revise it later. James Richards has been a professional writer for over 20 years (arghhh!!!) and has written for film, TV, network and local radio, national newspapers and magazines and for corporate clients. He has won a BAFTA and sold a film to Hollywood. His short stories have been published in various magazines and broadcast on national radio. He shops at Netto and drives an M registration Cavalier. This tells you much about the rewards of professional writing. | 
