Descriptions: Taking it All In

woodland

I am fortunate to be able to walk out of our house into country lanes. With the roads being quiet, it allows for reflection. Yesterday, as I was passing through an area of woodland, I did this exercise, and I recommend it to you…

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Put Your Talent to Work in 2020

Write for a Reason Academy

The course includes teaching, assignments, reading, and access to a private facebook group (so you can join other writers in the Write for a Reason community, ask questions and make comments). The course is hard work…

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Tension – the Ebb and Flow

Clouds and sunshine

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…

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Children Save the Day!

African children skipping

Hello again my writer friends, and yes, it’s Monday again, so time for a new creative writing tip! This week I wanted to write about something which will help you with your stories, so I picked a topic which is essential…

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Three Things You Really Need to Know About Stakes

Elephant walking along a road

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:…

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What do cooking smells, fresh flowers in a vase and a polished table have in common?

flowers in a vase

Showing not telling is a great way to add X factor to your novels. We’ve discussed it before, but there’s no harm in mentioning it again, because if you can use…

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Dialogue Tags

wild flowers

The latest Write for a Reason course has just come to an end… as always it’s been lots of fun, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know the students. One issue that has cropped up once again, as it often seems to, is the use of dialogue tags. I’ve mentioned this…

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7 Gleanings from Reading a Stack of Books

fantastic library

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…

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