I can tell I’ve got better since then, because when I read my own or other people’s work, I can see problems in it that would have been, or were, invisible to me previously. That’s the best way I can find to describe how it feels: as though my vision has improved – like when you zoom in on a map online, and a flurry of new street names and details appears. I’ve become more aware, more critical and more discerning (there is, of course, still loads of room for improvement). Today I want to share a big factor in that progress, but I’m also slightly mortified to publicise it.