Do you have any favorite authors whose work you rave about to anyone who will listen?

You’ve read all of their books and may have even tried to imitate their style. Wouldn’t you love it if you could converse with them and get their feedback on how you could improve your writing?

In 1956, C. S. Lewis did just that for a young fan.

The British author of the beloved Chronicles of Narnia series received countless letters from children all around the world. He was careful to respond to each one. A collection of some of these responses can be found in the slim volume Letters to Children.

Among them are several of his letters to Joan, a young girl who wrote to him from the United States. She sent her first letter to Lewis in 1954. Their correspondence lasted over twenty years.

In one letter, Lewis outlined for Joan his five rules for writing well. Though the letter is now sixty years old, Lewis’s rules are still relevant for writers today.

Read the full article over at my new blog to discover C. S. Lewis’s five rules and how we can use them to improve our own writing.