I think Katie Taylor is wonderful. A strong, confident, hard-working woman who has inspired girls to excel in sport and to follow their dreams.

I was most interested to read an interview with her in Irish Tatler magazine (July 2012) where she said this: “I get days where I’m not in the mood for training, but I think those are the days that are the most important really. There are days when it’s easy to go training, you want to do training. But the days when you’re not in the mood, they’re the days that really make a difference, I think, and they’re the days that are going to win you those competitions.”

Wise words, and great advice for writers too. Are you prepared to write even when you feel under the weather? Will you sit at your desk even when your heart isn’t in it? Will you start typing even when you’ve already put in a long day at work and you’d much prefer to be on the sofa eating biscuits and watching Come Dine With Me? The truth is, most if not all writers find it difficult to settle at their desk sometimes, I know I do! There are so many distractions, Facebook, Twitter, telly, radio, the phone, friends, family . . . the list is endless. But if you really want to write a book you have to have discipline. You have to get on with it. No excuses.

There are thousands of other writers out there, all itching to get published. If they are prepared to write when they’d rather not be writing, they have an advantage over you. They have the passion to see it through; they have the will power to say no to things, to write regardless of all the other things going on in their lives.

How badly do you want it? Badly enough to make sacrifices? To write no matter what? One of my favourite quotes about getting published isn’t by a writer, it isn’t even about writing – it’s from Marilyn Monroe. She once said: “I wasn’t the smartest. I wasn’t the prettiest. I just wanted it more than anyone else.”

Do YOU want it more than anyone else? Well, do you?

Yours in writing,