FREE Writing Tips

One Vital Thing

Hope you enjoyed last week’s podcast episode, on the subject of descriptions. (If you missed it, ​you can catch up by clicking here.)I have a quick writing tip for you …

Share this:

Who are you writing for?

Who are you writing your book for? If you’re not 100% sure who your target readers are (age, gender, nationality, reading ability etc), I have an online Zoom training for …

Share this:

Secrets!

Good morning my writer friends! I don’t know what it is about the dark evenings and long nights that makes me think of secrets… I’ve taken this week’s writing tip …

Share this:

Writing Stories for Our Time

Hi folks. I just wanted to let you know about a FREE training I’m doing this coming Wednesday called: Writing Stories for Our Time. Simply click on this link to …

Share this:
Write for a Reason logo

Writer’s Block

Surely every writer suffers from writer’s block at some time in their writing lives. After all, none of us are robots! This feared and dreaded affliction is a part of the creative process – ditch diggers don’t get ditch digger’s block, carpet layers don’t get carpet layer’s block, but writer’s block (all joking aside) can be a very real problem. And there are levels of it, because writing is creative – it’s an art, not a science…

Share this:
Cute white kitten

Endless Distractions

As last week’s writing tip seemed to resonate with many of you, about juggling various different writing projects or sticking to one (and I was speaking to myself as much as to you!), I thought, this week, this would be a good topic: Distractions…

Share this:
audio book

The Spoken Word

Maybe one day your book will be made into an audio book! This will not only be great for readers with sight loss, but children who struggle to read, or who just love to listen to stories…

Share this:

Choosing Names for Your Characters

When you are writing your stories, you also have the privilege of choosing names for all your characters. This can be a bit of a headache, and you don’t necessarily have nine months to mull over your choices! I’ve previously written about how to choose names, so I won’t repeat myself, but here’s an idea to help you choose…

Share this:
children's faces

Essential Stuff!

All characters need to be ’rounded’, especially your protagonist. Of course, they need to be inspirational, but they also need to have flaws and issues. They need to get despondent when things go badly – or even get to the point of despair. They shouldn’t always be…

Share this:
Lighthouse and sunset

Bringing Hope

I watched a film at the weekend. Nothing particularly unusual about that! But this film left me feeling… I’m struggling for the right word… troubled. There was no …

Share this:
sad lad

Theme and Purpose

Today’s video is all about theme and purpose. If you know the theme you want to get across in your story, it will be a lot better than if you …

Share this:
Wolf

Animals in Stories

Most children love animals, but how can you make the most of this natural affection in your stories? Here are some ideas!

Share this:

How Can We Make Plans?

I usually sit down around the beginning of the year and prayerfully consider some things I’d like to work towards/achieve. This year I didn’t do that…

Share this:
Write for a Reason Academy

Join the Online Writing Course

I want to give you all the information about the Write for a Reason Academy, which will be starting in a couple of weeks. This ten week online course is for Christians who write novels for children/teens… or who would like to have a go at doing so…

Share this:
young lady

Having Fun Together

Morning everyone. Hope you are keeping safe. I get the feeling that in these strange times, some writers are finding it more difficult to write creatively. With newer, tougher Covid-19 …

Share this:
Playground banned

Your View of Covid-19

I was going to talk about story plans today, because the Write for a Reason Academy is open, and as part of the course, you will be writing your own story plan. But this morning I decided to encourage you to write about the recent crisis instead, before the moment passes…

Share this:
science-fiction

Picture Writing Prompts

Today, something completely different!
Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to write about one of these pictures every day.
Feel free to write anything you like. Literally, anything.
This exercise is great for practice, but most of all its fun!…

Share this:
man writing

How to Make Sure You Achieve Your Writing Goals for 2020

This week I have a slightly different type of exercise for you, to do with goal setting. Setting concrete goals is an excellent thing to do, because goals help us stay on track. Even if we don’t achieve everything on our list, we will probably have accomplished more by the end of the year than if we didn’t set any goals! So now is the time…

Share this:
gates to the house

Why are Goals So Important?

Do you set goals? Yesterday I was talking to a friend from church who is a recovering alcoholic. The process of setting goals has been instrumental in his journey. Short term goals help him…

Share this:
Clouds and sunshine

Tension – the Ebb and Flow

Are you good at building up tension in your story, then letting your readers relax again? It’s an important skill for story writers. It’s like stretching a piece of elastic… just when it’s about to snap, you let it go. Phew! This process helps…

Share this:
laptop

Sending Your Book Proposal to a Publishing House

Hello and welcome to the Write for a Reason blog! Today I want to take a look at sending book proposals to publishers. This is a topic I have covered before, but it’s something I’ve been asked about recently by a Write for a Reason student who has now finished her novel…

Share this:
Girl screaming

‘Show Don’t Tell’ Practice

We look at ‘show don’t tell’ a lot here at Write for a Reason, because it is an essential technique for writing engaging stories…

Share this:

3 Reasons You Need Prayer Support

By the end of the Write for a Reason Academy you will not only have all the tools you need to write your best stories ever (for example, how to craft your beginnings and endings, create engaging characters, choose your narrative voice, weave your theme…

Share this:
Elephant walking along a road

Three Things You Really Need to Know About Stakes

We’ve all heard the expression the stakes are high… but why do they need to be high in your novel? I don’t think I’ve ever written a blog post specifically about stakes (not steaks, hehe!) before… but stakes are a vital part of any story, so here are three things you really need to know:…

Share this:
Editing on a tablet

Editing Your First Draft

People new to writing novels sometimes think that the words should flow straight out on to the page perfectly first time. This…

Share this:
imaginary palace

3 Reasons to Set Your Novel in a Place You Don’t Know

A couple of weeks ago I posted a writing tip with 7 reasons to set your novel in a place you know. This week we’re going to look at three reasons you might want to set your novel in a place you…

Share this:
fantastic library

7 Gleanings from Reading a Stack of Books

We all know that if we want to be writers, we have to read. We can glean all sorts of things from other people’s stories – both good and bad. Having recently read a stack of books I was sent to review, I’m going to share seven…

Share this:
girl reading

3 More Things to Beware of when Writing Stories for Children

Last week I mentioned seven writing issues I noticed when reading a stack of children’s novels, that could have been avoided. Since then, I’ve found some more! So here they are (on to something more positive next week, I promise)…

Share this:
books

7 Things to Beware of when Writing Stories for Children

Over the last few months I have been reviewing books for a charity that puts Christian titles into libraries and other public places. So I have had the joy of having to read. 🙂 How about that for an excuse to read – sorry, can’t do that, I absolutely have to finish these books….

Share this:
switzerland still lake

Writing Prompts II

Hello! How did you get on with last week’s writing prompts? (If you didn’t see them, scroll down to find them.) Hope you enjoyed doing a bit of writing for …

Share this:
christmas-stollen

Getting a Bit Stale?

If you’re anything like our family, we have Christmas cake left way beyond Christmas (have you still got any in a tin somewhere?). That’s not a problem, because fruit cake will last and last. But have you ever gone to a tin and found a bit of sponge cake that was a bit dry …

Share this:

Your Book Proposal

Just a quick tip this week, but a very important one. If you are sending your manuscript to a publisher or agent, make sure it’s beautifully presented. This will immediately …

Share this:

Characterisation

Here’s a quick creative writing tip for you: Before you start writing your story, write a character list, then sketch out a description of each of your characters. Include their …

Share this: