You, the reader

Writing started for me about 18 months ago as a hobby, but has now grown into a major part of my life. Some people have mailed me here, or through Goodreads asking for writing advice, so here are a few things that I have learned:

• to write, you have to write. Writing groups may be something you have tried, but all the people who get books out there focus on finishing a manuscript rather than perfecting their style, so if you want to write, crack on.
• read the writers who inspire you. For me I keep reading Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, also Raymond Chandler.
• learn the "three act structure". All stories need a beginning, and middle and an end. Wikipedia gives a great overview fo how to do this.
• write the stuff you want to read. I want to write books that you read on the train, in a plane, in Starbucks, so I keep chapters short. Writing is a competitive activity; there is always something out there to drag the reader's attention away.

This blog has now had views from nations as far apart as Poland, Ukraine, South Africa, Australia (very high number from Oz) USA, Iraq, Switzerland and even the UK.
Amazon reports sales in the various countries, so I see that there are Scott Chapman readers in India, Pakistan, Japan and Mexico.
Thanks for logging in and I hope you find a bit of value here. Next book is selling at twice the rate of the last one in terms of pre-orders, thanks partly to the excellent promotional support of Amazon.
If you ever leave a review on Amazon, be aware that I read and value every one- My current favourite was by a lady from the USA who says that she "has a massive crush on Peter Sparke." The nicest thing anyone has ever said about my stuff.