• A couple of years ago, I wrote a tips piece for The Writers’ Bureau’s on-line magazine, ‘E-Zee Writer’ about how to grab your readers’ attention in the opening to your story: http://www.writersbureau.com/e-zee-writer/september-2011/page4.htm Having hooked that interest, you need to keep it there and then finish the story on a high, leaving readers feeling as if…

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  • My Writing Week

    A New Term It’s the first day of the school term and so I’ve had the house to myself once more and plenty of opportunity to start the big catch up. I’m concentrating on the tutoring work first as that has priority, though somehow I’ve managed to more or less stay on top of things…

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  • Funny Of The Week

    I’m often inspired to write when I see a photo of an animal, whether it’s my own beloved cats who’ve triggered an idea for a reader’s letter, or another image which has given me an idea for an article. When I saw this chap, all I thought was, grimace or smile? Any ideas?   

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  • Have box, will fit! My beloved seventeen-year-old, Clio loves lying in or on anything, from comfy beds, to pieces of paper, to my i-phone, to my computer. But her favourite place is a cardboard box – whatever the size!  

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  • Top Tip Of The Week

    By Post or E-mail? Even though we live in an electronic age where more and more publications are accepting work by e-mail, some still prefer postal submissions, especially from someone writing for them for the first time. So make sure you research this carefully. If a magazine only accepts work by post, don’t think you…

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  • More Flash Fiction

    Yesterday, in my blog, I gave details of a fantastic flash fiction competition, ‘Flash 500’. Winning a flash fiction competition can give you a tremendous boost and  spur you on to write for other publications and enter other competitions. That’s exactly what happened to me.  The following story is the first piece of flash fiction…

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  • My Writing Week

    After a bank holiday at the beginning of the week, I keep having to remind myself which day of the week it is. It really feels like a Tuesday but as it’s already Wednesday, my deadlines are looming even closer. Though, school starts back next week so I should be able to catch up quite…

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  • Funny Of The Week

    My award this week goes to this comfy chap!  

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  • No Helping Paw Part 3

    As followers of my blog will know, I’m a little bit of a crazy cat lady and have several rescue cats who regularly ‘help’ me in my work by sprawling across it so I can’t do any or distracting me by looking cute in the quest for cuddles. Today, my cheekiest chappie, Morris isn’t stopping…

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  • Top Tip Of The Week

    Dramatic Dialogue In a short story, you need to hook your reader’s interest straight away. If your opening paragraph is too long or you waffle, you’ll lose his interest.  Try opening your story with dialogue. It instantly makes your reader feel part of the story and privy to the conversation that’s taking place. Here are…

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