Inspiration:

Anthony Burgess loved encouraging writing talent, and to that aim, here is some inspiration that might prove useful when writing your piece for this year’s Observer Anthony Burgess Prize.

What follows is a list of writing tips designed for those beginning in reviewing and criticism. The list is written by Ian Carrington, prize admin and a journalist of some 30 years.

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Go long or go home

Write long then edit down.

The editing process can be likened to weeding your garden: it pulls out the weakest writing.

It might pain you to delete much-loved phrases in order to honour the word limit, but you will almost always make your writing better. Probably.

What’s the point

Ask yourself: why does you’re the subject of your review matter?

Give your readers a reason to care about the thing you’re reviewing by relating it to a bigger picture.

Good critical writing doesn’t exist in a bubble: it places things in wider context.

Keep it simple

Write clearly, and get to the point.

Er…

That’s it.

The shape of things

800 words is not a lot of words, but even a short review can benefit from having structure; a beginning, middle and end, or maybe a circle in which the closing sentences loops back to a first paragraph theme.

Use structure to bring a sense of entertainment to your review.

Roget would not approve

This is about the words you use, utilize, employ.

If you find yourself relying too much on a thesaurus to find interesting words for your review, there’s a chance your piece won’t feel genuine.

Don’t mask your real voice by using words you’d normally avoid.

Say it loud

Your internal voice is not the same as your spoken voice.

Read your piece out loud, as if reading to a friend.

If you trip over a sentence, it might be a sign that your grammar or phrasing needs an edit.

Rewrite, reread, rewrite and reread until it flows from start to finish.

Adverbly

Writing sages tell us to be wary of adverbs, and I agree bigly.

A well-chosen adverb is a necessary part of good writing, but an overusage can be a sign that your verb choices need to be stronger.

For example: “It was visually striking.” No. “The visuals popped.” There: much neater.

Different strokes

Something’s good? Fine.

Something’s bad? Okay.

Something’s different? Now I’m reading!

We know that novels can be page-turners or acting can be leaden, but save us the cliches and instead tell us what is unique or different about the thing you’re reviewing.

Pro tools

Treat your competition entry like a professional commission.

Read other reviewers, and note their quirks and foibles. Respect your writing process and set yourself wordcount deadlines.

Act like a professional journalist, and you may surprise yourself by becoming a professional journalist.

A final hack

Delete your first and last sentence.

Has it made your review snappier? Thank me later.

If you need guidance on style and formatting, you should spend some time reading The Observer’s critic pages . The Observer’s team of writers include former judges for the Observer Anthony Burgess prize, and it’s those journalists that you are aiming to impress.

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