As fun, and as liberating, as writing fragments can be, there comes a point where you have to focus to finish your writing project. Even if you feel like you’ve hit a wall. Especially if you feel like you’ve hit a wall. If you abandon every story you start, then all you’ll ever have are […]
About Writing
How to use your dialogue to show, not tell
That legendary director and master storyteller Alfred Hitchcock is often quoted as saying “Drama is life with the dull bits cut out”. Believe it or not, but the same applies to your dialogue. In books, you don’t often get those small and polite but relatively pointless exchanges of “Hi, how are you?” “I’m okay, how […]
5 Ways To Make Resolutions That Stick
We’re just four days into the New Year! If you’re a writer, you’ve probably made a dozen New Year’s resolutions related to your craft. You might find that you’re struggling to stick to them now that you’re away from your ‘holiday bubble’. Others have resolved to visit the gym three times a week, or to buy fewer pairs […]
How do you cope with rejection as a writer?
There are few things guaranteed in life, but if you’re a writer, then at some point or other, you’re sure to encounter rejection. No matter what you’re submitting, sooner or later, you’ll get some form of reply saying “Thanks, but no thanks.” It’s hard, I know, but it’s something every writer goes through. Picture the scene. You’ve […]
Write What You Know, But What If You Don’t Know Enough?
It was the 145th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens this year, and while much has been written about his life and work, we can still learn a lot from his methods. His depiction of a supposedly-fictional London was so realistic – he clearly drew a lot from how people lived in worked in Victorian […]
“Write What You Know” Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does
If you’ve ever read anything about writing, chances are that at some stage you’ll have encountered the maxim that you should ‘write what you know’. It’s at this point that some writers will throw up their hands and declare that nothing interesting ever happens to them, so what can they possibly write about? It can […]
