Inspiring the Uninspired
Writers often have an odd relationship with the first draft. It's that mixture between excitement and fear, motivation and doubt. It's easy to pile on the pressure, putting ourselves under a certain level of strain and expectation. That's why I wanted to share this things to remember while you're writing a first draft. The writing… Continue reading Things to remember when writing a first draft
Prologues can be a contentious issue. Everybody has a different opinion on them. I've known of readers who love them, agents who hate them, and everything in between! The last novel I wrote started with a prologue, even though as a reader I'm not a huge fan of them. Sometimes you just have to do… Continue reading The Pros and Cons of Prologues
For the past couple of weeks I've been focusing on query letters, and they've been the subject of my previous two blog posts. So now we've discussed things to include in a query letter, and things to leave out, I thought I'd share my step by step approach. Please note, as with my synopsis writing… Continue reading Writing a Query Letter – A Step by Step Method
Writer's block. We've (probably) all been there. The words won't come, the ideas fall flat and your motivation falters to a halt. How to combat it? There are plenty of ways. One is simply to write anyway. You could try freewriting, or find a great prompt or go for a walk. And you could also… Continue reading 4 Reasons to Read When You Have Writer’s Block
I have always adored this quote from Ibn Battuta. Let's see it again: “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” - The Travels of Ibn Battutah As somebody who loves to write and loves to travel, this has always been something I think is entirely true. And I know that not everybody… Continue reading Travelling: It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
Inspiration and ideas can strike writers at any time. They're always lurking, those little moments in life that spark the plot for a novel or short story. And that spark is electric, it's exciting, it pulls your pen to paper until you're fizzing with the sheer need to tell that story. However, although it's hard,… Continue reading 5 Reasons to Finish your Writing Project
Whether you write novels, short stories, non-fiction or poetry, your goal could be publication. If it is, you'll experience the long journey of seeking an agent and securing a publishing deal. There are some great ways to get your writing out there in the mean time and, if successful, could provide you with some accreditation… Continue reading Ways To Get Your Writing Into The World
Many writers have a love/hate relationship with editing. My favourite writing quote, and one I refer to often: “I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” - Shannon Hale I love the idea of shovelling your words onto a page… Continue reading Reasons to Love Editing Your Novel
Happy New Year, writers! We're almost a week into the New Year, and I know that everybody has been setting amazing goals, ahead of a fantastic year of writing, editing and hopefully publishing! I wrote a post last year, on how to achieve your 2018 writing goals, so it seemed only right to offer some… Continue reading How to Achieve your 2019 Writing Goals
Morning all. It's that time again, the brink of a new year. Last year, I posted a similar post, highlighting my writing achievements from 2017. It may a bit out of my usual blogs, which aim to share tips and inspiration, however I've said before that I also want this blog to be a record… Continue reading 7 Writing Achievements from 2018
