Writing Science: Nick Arnold's Top Tips

Nick Arnold is one of the UK's top science writers. If you've ever read any of his Horrible Science books you'll know that he gets really excited about all anything to do with science.

We've picked Nick's brains for some top tips on putting pen to paper (or should that be fingers to keyboard?). Here goes...

1. Read as many different books as possible, to find out what sort of books you enjoy reading and what subjects you enjoy writing about. It also helps you learn lots of new words.

2. Practise writing as much as possible, especially in your spare time. Writing is like anything else - the more you do, the better you get at it.

3. Sometimes it helps when you're writing to read it aloud and try to imagine how it would sound. Is your writing exciting enough? Very often I will read out bits of my own writing and imagine how it will sound.

4. If in doubt, put your writing away for a few weeks and then go back to it. Is it as good as you thought it was?

5. Don't be put off by anything anyone says to you. Don't give up your ambition.

6. Writing about things that really happen is as important as a story. In the end, the writer who describes what really happens is perhaps more important as readers will read their writing and find out more about the world.

To find out more about Nick and his books take a look at Show Me Meets Nick Arnold.