Writing Tips
Do You Have Goals?
Apologies for a very late writing tip this week – I have been away to Ireland, visiting my brother, who moved to Co. Mayo last year (and it was my first time on Irish soil – what a beautiful land!).
Ireland
Anyway, here’s a question for you – something to think about over the weekend, maybe?
What would you like to have achieved by …
Strong Words
Hi everyone, and welcome to your creative writing tip of the week!
I make a habit of reading books of the age we publish for at Dernier Publishing, for research. It’s amazing how much you can learn from what other people have written. I thoroughly recommend it (if you’ve been receiving these tips any length of time you’ll know that!).
One book I’ve been reading recently has frequent use . . .
Stepping Stones
Hello again everyone, and thanks for being here. I do enjoy writing these tips, and they help me, too! Before I was a publisher I was a writer, and I still like to keep my hand in, so all the things I write here I try to put into practice myself. 🙂
The first thing I ever wrote (apart from school work) were letters. As children we were obliged to write thank you letters to relatives who sent us birthday and Christmas presents – then when I was eighteen I moved to . . .
What One Thing Does Your Protagonist Need?
At the beginning of your story, your protagonist may or may not want or need nothing, but if something doesn’t happen that will jerk him or her into action, you won’t have much of a story.
We all have physical needs – warmth, shelter, clothing, air, medical help, food, clean water, safety. We also have emotional and spiritual needs – we need to love and be loved, to matter, to use the gifts God has given us.
Your protagonist may . . .
Obstacles
Obstacles are an inevitable part of life. Like the family in the story “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt” (by Michael Rosen), we can’t go over them, we can’t go under them, we can’t go round them: we have to go through them! And obstacles show up in every arena, whether it’s in our work life, relationships, finances . . . or our writing . . .