inspiration
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Four and no more! Too many characters in a short story can lead to your reader being confused and the characters can easily become two-dimensional with no substance to them. In a short story, you only have a limited number of words in which to tell your story so make sure every character has a…
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Happy Anniversary! Every day is the anniversary of a famous person’s birth or death, historical event or the invention of something which changed lives. Articles based on these anniversaries make for fascinating reading and a lot of magazines pay very well for them. So why not tap into this? Though, a word of warning –…
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This week’s challenge is to write a story, limerick or poem on the subject of: Favourite places to visit Last week’s theme was favourite family holidays. Here are a few of yours: Keith Channing We once went to Clacton-on-Sea, My ex-wife, the children and me. Across England we tramped And in Butlins we camped. Guess…
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What’s in a name? It’s so easy to fall into the trap of changing a character’s name half-way through a story. In the opening few paragraphs, your main protagonist might start off as Sarah. Then, as you build towards the end, she may find herself morphing into a character called Sally. This shows that you’ve…
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Keep it Short and Sweet Whether you’re writing an article, short story, or novel, think about your opening paragraph very carefully in terms of length. Often, as writers, we’re keen to get going and ideas are flowing, so we don’t stop and pay attention to our paragraph lengths. But, think about it from the reader’s…
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Alone and Aloud As writers, it’s so easy to become immersed in our work. Often we know our own stories so well, which means that when we read our writing to check for errors, we miss spelling mistakes, a word here and there, a comma etc, because we know what it should read. So try…
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This week’s challenge is to write a story, limerick or poem on the subject of: Favourite indulgences Last week’s theme was favourite songs/music artists. They clearly inspire you. Some of the pieces are here, while you’ll find others by following the links: Keith Channing At the ages of twelve or thirteen What an innocent time…
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Did you know that you can earn around £200 pounds a month from writing readers’ letters? They’re a form of writing that’s often dismissed, but they shouldn’t be ignored – whether you’re new to the writing scene or a seasoned writer. Here are five reasons why you should write one: Reason One: A source of…
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To start your writing week off, why not try working on something outside of your comfort zone? If you’re a romance writer, how about writing a horror story? Or if you’ve never written poetry, give it a go. It’s fun and you never know – you might find a new talent! *** Photo credit: SlideShare
Esther Chilton 