For those who are still keen to share their stories, though, read on. Because Dahl’s book, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, includes a short extract in which Dahl explains how he came to be a writer. It also includes advice from Dahl on the qualities he thought necessary to anyone writing fiction.

They were:

You should have a lively imagination.
You should be able to write well. By that I mean you should be able to make a scene come alive in the reader’s mind. Not everybody has this ability. It is a gift, and you either have it or you don’t.
You must have stamina. In other words, you must be able to stick to what you are doing and never give up, for hour after hour, day after day, week after week and month after month.
You must be a perfectionist. That means you must never be satisfied with what you have written until you have rewritten it again and again, making it as good as you possibly can.
You must have strong self-discipline. you are working alone. No one is employing you. No one is around to give you the sack if you don’t turn up for work, or to tick you off if you start slacking.
It helps a lot if you have a keen sense of humour. This is not essential when writing for grown-ups, but for children it’s vital.
You must have a degree of humility. The writer who thinks that his work is marvellous is heading for trouble.

Dahl also recommends keeping a day job, emphasising that most great writing through the centuries has been the work of amateurs and hobbyists. And it’s a mantra he himself lived by. After all, he wasn’t just a British novelist, short story writer, poet, and screenwriter… he was a fighter pilot, too.

What it really takes to be a writer, according to Roald Dahl