You’ve cleared a space at your desk. You’ve turned your music up high and hung a Do Not Disturb sign on your door. You’re ready to start.

But maybe you feel a little nervous, a wee tad anxious.

I’ll just have one more look at that website, you tell yourself. 

One more wafer-thin little peek. Just in case there’s a little something more I can find; a little extra scrap of encouragement or an overlooked gem of wisdom.

Perhaps a firm word of support in your ear or a sharp boot of ‘stop procrastinating’ in your behind.

These then are the final words of advice from us here at Fresh Ink.

Read them. Take them to heart. And then close down Internet Explorer (or Netscape or those other things) and START WRITING!

… go for it. (Louis Nowra)

Don’t begin with a monologue or solo work. But put two or more people in a space and instantly you have a dynamic. (Noelle Janaczewska)

Read plays. See plays. Immerse yourself in plays. Turn off the TV. (Donna Abela)

When somebody responds to your work - be it positively or negatively and be they collaborator, reviewer, director, actor or audience member - it is important to remind yourself that the observation is about the work and not you personally. (Tommy Murphy)

I know everyone says it, but start with a story in your gut that you’ve lived, experienced, been confronted or troubled by, start with that and let a character tell that story. Embellish it, ask yourself why this is a story that has affected you so profoundly and what it says about our world. (Suzie Miller)

Don’t get too hung up on where the play is going at first – write without the internal critic sitting on your shoulder. But when you have a complete draft then be ruthless about editing out all that is superfluous. (Jane Harrison)

Write what you enjoy. And that can be horrific or tragic or whatever, but there’s no point in writing what you imagine someone else might write because you think it will be more valid than what’s inside your head. Because it’s not. (Lally Katz)

… be ready to fail. Writing in the theatre is about failing and getting up and having another go. And occasionally getting it halfway right. …If you're precious about your writing and don't like it being changed or altered or misinterpreted or mutated, become a poet. (Tom Wright)

Just do it. (Verity Laughton)