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I wouldn't run a class on writing, because I'd fail to give you structure. I'd be all, I don't know, what works for you? Do you take notes and have shoe boxes full of post-its? Do you have meticulously ordered corkboards that work as your storyboard? Do you do storyboards, actual ones that are almost artful and something I actually suck at?

I don't have a method. I either take a scene and build a whole story around it on the fly, or I plan it out and get annoyed at the corners I've painted myself into by plotting. Or I just make a few vague notes which I may actually ignore ultimately because the story dictated the outcome, not me, which is sometimes the best way to go. It's easier to reconcile this than get annoyed you failed to stick to the script. But that's me.

Seriously, my entire class would be one lesson, where I've written on the board: "You do you, boo." I won't even be there. I'll just write it up before class and leave to write whatever I was working on, or take a nap. Most likely I'll take a nap.

But go and research what other authors do to get some ideas, at least. One of my screenwriting classes was to visit Drew's Script-O-Rama and look up movie scripts for an hour. Later I'd go on to read his tremendous blog while I was at work, something he sadly left by the wayside years ago. Some of the advice will be great and some of it won't jive with your style. I don't even know if I've broken any of the major rules people put up regarding passive voice, I think my grammarly picked up a lot of it, but in narrative fiction, anything goes, to an extent. People know when you've really messed up, they'll tell you it's a mess either structurally or grammatically. You'll know if you're bad or good, most of the time - someone might mistake it for good writing but they don't know any better. There's tonnes of guides and websites out there for basic stuff, the world is your oyster compared to when I was in uni, the internet is awash with advice articles and style guides and grammar rules. It makes life easier when you forget a word you can google it on the same machine you're making your book. Provided you don't get too stifled by rules, you'll be okay.

I've had a lot of rules thrown at me, some I've stuck to, some I've ignored. But the one thing I did do was just keep doing it. Writing something bad isn't bad because it's better than doing nothing at all. Just don't think it's finished at that point. You'll get a chance to polish it up later, just go hell for leather, forget about style and structure and get something down on paper, otherwise you'll stare at the cursor on your screen and have an existential meltdown.

OK, for sake of argument, if I were tutoring you, I'd say, start with a conversation and give me a dialogue driven scene with two people. They can be talking about anything, or arguing, or whispering sweet nothings. Then maybe build some tension, but take it wherever you want. Right, go.

You done? Cool, you just wrote something. Is it good? Maybe, maybe not. But it's better than a blank page.

I am actually a qualified ESL teacher but I am so bad at it, I'd be fired. I'm bad at form. I just write, sort of how some musicians just play but have no head for theory. It happens. My tip is, find what works for you. And keep practicing.