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. ๐Ÿ™‚ How about that for an excuse to read – sorry, can’t do that, I absolutely have to finish these books….

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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 …

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fantasy landscape

Who Holds the Key?

What do you think is the most important element of every story? What is it that makes a novel worth reading, for you?

Is it:

The plot?
The setting?
The length?
The author’s…

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forest in the autumn

Two words or one: Part II

Last week we looked at the quote from Thomas Jefferson: โ€œThe most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.โ€

We talked about cutting unnecessary words… However, there is another side to this quote:

Sometimes you need…

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Thomas Jefferson

Two words or one?

A writing quote for you this week:

โ€œThe most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.โ€ โ€“ Thomas Jefferson

What do you think? (Bear in mind that Thomas Jefferson was …

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writing

How could you write 500 words a day?

Following on from last week’s post (you can check it out here if you missed it), I was contacted by writer-for-a-reason Heather, who told me she did a challenge of writing 500 words a day, and did so for 18 months!

Heather says, “It was a challenge by…

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distracting image

Keeping Going Despite the Distractions

What keeps you going with your writing when times get tough?

I find that having a plan, being disciplined, and getting back to the plan as soon as possible helps.

I try to write an hour a day, but of course that’s not always possible…

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