On The First Day of Christmas...

....the best writing advice Tomiwa Owolade gave to me

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And so here we are, Merry Christmas! By now the presents may all be unwrapped, you may be full of turkey dinner and reading this from the sofa with a glass of something tasty in your hands, at least I hope so.

But wait, the presents are still coming, because today is day one of my Twelve Days of Christmas Writing Advice.

Given that you may have received a book for Christmas, I thought today’s advice from Tomiwa Owolade would be a great place to start.

Tomiwa is a writer and critic. He has a regular column in The Times and has also written for many other publications including The Sunday Times, New Statesman, and Unherd. He speaks frequently on BBC Radio Four and is also the author of THIS IS NOT AMERICA, which was published this year to critical acclaim.

If you have not read his brilliant book, then I recommend you do so, and I am thrilled to have Tomiwa kicking off this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas Writing Advice with this essay he has penned exclusively for you: