motivation

  • My Weekly Writing Challenge

    Jason was very lucky and just snuck in there with his challenge! Thank you to those who took it up and wrote stories and poems relating to the J, K and L of my weekly series i.e. stories and poems on the themes of Job, Kill and Love. Some managed to write about all three! You…

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  • Top Tip Of The Week

    Just Do It! This week’s tip is written with a mixture of sadness but also with a sense of motivation. The sadness part relates to me having to have my beloved 18 year-old cat put to sleep this morning. It doesn’t seem five minutes ago that she arrived here, a cute bundle of ginger fluff.…

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  • My Weekly Writing Challenge

    My themed weekly writing challenge stumped a few last week (the themes were Grotto, Hospital or Isolation) but for others, it clearly inspired. You can read their wonderful pieces below. Now onto this week and yes, it’s J, K and L and the themes for these letters are: Job, Kill and Love. For some inspiration on what you…

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  • Monday Motivations/Fabulous First Few Words Part One

    A number of you contacted me to say how much you enjoyed my ‘ABC Of Short Story Ideas’ and found it useful in helping you to come up with story ideas of your own. With that in mind, I thought I’d stick with fiction and start a new weekly series, ‘Fabulous First Few Words‘. As…

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  • Last week, you had the option of writing a story or poem about ‘darkness’, an ’emergency’ or ‘freedom’. Well, the ‘darkness’ theme certainly got you thinking. Some fantastic stories are published below. So, this week, we move on to ‘G, H and I‘. My themes for your stories and poems are ‘Grotto‘, ‘Hospital‘  and ‘Isolation‘. To…

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  • Monday Motivations/The ABC Of Short Story Ideas Part Nine

    Mmmm, I knew it was coming – the Y and Z but it wasn’t easy to come up with short story themes; well, half decent ones anyway. I’m not sure you would appreciate ‘ yoyo’ or ‘zumba’ but you never know! Y is for Yearn: What is your character yearning for? Is it a person?…

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  • Top Tip Of The Week

    Take A Break Do you often feel frustrated when your short story doesn’t flow? Or perhaps you’re working on an article and the ideas and words won’t come. Maybe it’s a bigger project you’re working on, like a novel, but it’s just not coming together. Then is the time to take a break. Go for…

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  • Last week’s challenge linked to my ‘ABC of short story ideas’ series which appears on a Monday. You had a choice of writing about an ‘ambulance’, ‘burglary’, ‘castle’ or all three! Castle proved to be the favourite choice by far. Your wonderful stories can be read below. Last week it was the ‘ABC’ so this…

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  • Monday Motivations/The ABC Of Short Story Ideas Part Eight

    Now it’s getting tricky…here’s V, W and X: V is for Victory: The victory in your short story could be a big one – a country taking victory in a hard fought war. You could take a particular character in the war, perhaps a soldier and tell the story through his eyes. Or your main…

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  • Monday Motivations/The ABC Of Short Story Ideas Part Seven

    Almost there…here’s S, T and U: S is for Spy: The word ‘spy’ immediately conjures up an image of James Bond hurtling down a mountainside on skis or careering round corners in a fast car. Your story can involve that type of spy but think outside the box. A spy could also be a sister,…

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