I'll forever be grateful to Mike Bibby the Launch Editor of The Micro User Magazine. Not only did he give me my first magazine publishing job as an Editorial Assistant, he spent six months laboriously explaining to me why many of the writing habits I had learned at school were wrong, and how you really needed to write for a magazine. Article after article of mine would come back with corrections, underscores, and huge sections crossed out with a note to write it again. But over time I got less and less of them coming back. I do believe Mike actually knocked some writing skills into me.
   Before then I thought I could write well. Afterwards I thought I could learn how to write well. And every day I re-read stuff I've written and want to change it. So I hope I'm improving. Hey, and I have had over 500 articles and two books published, so that's something to be going on with.
   But I'm trying for a bigger challenge right now, as and when I find the time and inspiration. I'm in the process of writing a novel based on the effects of global warming and our running out of non-renewable resources such as oil. These are pet subjects of interest to me. I'm keeping the book to myself, though, until it's done, because I discovered that other people's ideas during writing can throw me off course. Instead I'll welcome their input after the first draft is complete, and then they can help me to knock the book into proper shape.
   Being in the magazine publishing industry I learned to write good copy to a tight schedule - I can actually type as fast as many secretaries using only three fingers and a thumb. Once I've finished researching a subject and let it soak in a little I can write several thousand words a day of solid, readable copy.