The great thing is, even though you are focussing on one subject, amount of writing you do will see small improvements in other areas as well. So you almost kill two birds with one stone.

3). Experiment with your writing. Each month, set yourself a challenge to do something different. May it’s to write a story in first person when you normally use third. Maybe it’s to try writing your story as a transcription of a tape rather than as an observer of story. Maybe it’s to try and write one hundred words as one sentence.

You will end up with interesting ideas, new areas that you need to look at and perhaps will discover a skill that you didn’t know you possessed.

4). Write short shorts. Nothing will test your writing more than trying to tell an entire story, with good characterisation and plot, in five hundred words. You learn value of words, importance of right word at right time. Even if you think you can’t possibly do it, try it. It gets you thinking about your writing in a way that writing a novel doesn’t, and you can’t help but see what your strengths and weaknesses are.

5). Get involved in critiquing other people’s work and having your own critiqued. It is amazing how you can pick up errors in other people’s work that you cannot see in your own. You’ll learn a great deal from process. And for your own work, a good idea is to ask for questions about a particular thing. For example: I’m not sure how clear description is in this piece. Can you clearly see what is going on? Get your critiquers to focus on skill you are focussing on and then you can receive their comments without being concerned that they are attacking you or your baby.

Take you time to improve your writing. Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them. No one’s going to come back at you in ten years and say “How can she be on New York Times Bestsellers List? Look at crap she wrote in 2003.” Except maybe you.

3). Get your family to dress up as characters. This would be especially helpful if you are having trouble visualising your characters. “Ah, yes, I had no idea James looked so dorky. I’ll have to remember that.”

4). Get your family to give you a blow by blow description of their day. Have your notebook handy and write down any brilliant that comes out of their mouth. “I’m sorry, darling, where did you say your boyfriend had his hand again? Really. That’s very interesting. scribble, scribble. And you weren’t in least bit uncomfortable?”

5). Get your family involved in marketing your book. “Yes, darling, making as many balloon animals as we can in five days is important because of scene on page 118.”

There you have it. Five fabulous ideas to bring your writing and your family together. Of course, all this quality time could have a disastrous affect: your family may be overcome with humiliation as their balloon giraffes are ridiculed, decide they don’t want to be involved and leave you in peace. A tragedy, to be sure.