The Shape of Writing

Here’s a writing exercise to try before this blog unfolds in earnest: write a scene in which your protagonist comes home and finds the corpse of their beloved partner lying … Continued

An Unweeded Garden

If we don’t tend to a garden regularly enough, weeds take over. Even the least adept gardeners know that basic rule of thumb. The threat of weeds is always there, … Continued

Using Word

Microsoft’s Word, despite all its idiosyncrasies, can be a powerful tool for any writer when used correctly. Unfortunately, most writers don’t. They use it as a typewriter, instead of taking … Continued

Questioning Your Writing

So a piece of work has been finished, or at least laid out to reasonable comprehension. There’s a sense of relief. Then anxiety. Then out-and-out despair. Because so much of … Continued

Finding the Words

Never take the easy option when writing. We all do, on occasion, through our own inexperience (not realising that something better may be required), through laziness (whizzing along, and taking … Continued

Off the Page

In a story, we can’t cover every single thing that happens. We just don’t have the time, the space, or the reader’s indulgence. If a character is making a coffee, … Continued

Self-Imposing Deadlines

Before you begin a short story, an article, a book (or whatever the case might be), you may have a general idea how long your work will be, but you … Continued