writing
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Last week, I gave you a visual image to help you get the creative juices flowing: Several of you felt inspired by the image and shared some wonderful ideas, stories and poems. Settle back and enjoy: Stephenie Houghtlin came up with the following idea. I think she should turn it into a full story: Emily…
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My top tip of the week is to never give up. You can be pictures 2, 4 and 6 (left to right, top to bottom)!
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My Monday motivation for you this week comes in the form of a picture of a little girl praying. Is she praying for the safe return of her dad who’s a soldier? Or perhaps she’s saying a prayer for her sister who’s ill. Why she’s praying, who for and the outcome is up to you,…
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Don’t waffle! My top tips have revolved around short story openings over the past couple of weeks. This week builds on this. Remember that your opening few paragraphs need to grab your reader’s attention straight away. It’s no use filling them with lots of waffle. Your reader will switch off and move to another story…
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The Shock Factor Last week, I suggested using dialogue when you open your short story. Dialogue is an excellent way to begin and to involve your reader. Another effective way is to open with a statement. A one line statement makes the opening even stronger and can really draw your reader in. Here are some…
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Thank you to everyone who’s taken up my writing challenges. I’ll begin with Steve Walsky, who didn’t quite get his post linked to my writing challenge of the 21st May before I’d posted the results. But please take the time to read his story and to take a look round his interesting and inspiring site:…
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Paragraphs Whether you’re writing an article, short story or novel, be careful of your paragraph lengths, especially your opening paragraph. If a reader is faced with a big block of words, it can be very off-putting as can page after page of long and lengthy paragraphs. It’s good to have a mixture as this aids…
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If you’re struggling to come up with themes/ideas/titles for a fiction story, here are some words to help inspire you: The Island Survival The Rendezvous Tornado The Secret The Brotherhood Battle Zone Summer Rain Drama Queen Confession
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Cringeworthy Cliches Using too many cliches in a story will annoy your reader. An editor/judge wants to read something fresh. He doesn’t want to read that Mabel was feeling sick as a parrot, or that she made it to the bathroom in the nick of time. Nor does he want to know that she lost…
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Be critical Once you have written your article or story, read one in the publication you’re planning to send it to. Then read your own submission. Is yours similar in terms of style, length etc? Would it slot nicely into the magazine and look right alongside all the others? If not, why not? How can…
