writing
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Don’t lose heart So, you’ve slaved over a competition entry and you’re satisfied it’s your very best work. You enter it into the competition and nervously await the results – only to find out you’re not amongst the winners. Perhaps you’re not even on the longlist let alone the shortlist. How do you feel? Disheartened? …
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After Geoff Le Pard‘s wonderful prose from my picture promt (https://esthernewtonblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/monday-motivationsprepare-to-be-inspired/), I thought I’d set you a visual challenge this week. If the following image inspires a poem, story or a non-fiction piece, I’d love to see it: Here are last week’s brilliant rhyming poems: Keith Channing says he doesn’t usually write poetry, but on…
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Last week, I gave you a picture prompt: Often this gets the creative juices going and it certainly did for Geoff Le Pard. He sent in this simply stunning piece of writing, which I just had to share. Sit back, read and be inspired: Two Become One They stopped the chair to let him look…
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Check, check and re-check! This week’s tip is a reminder for you on the perils of not checking your work. I always leave my stories and articles for a few days before going back over them and I’ve been amazed at the silly mistakes I’ve made. Nod if you’re with me here – they range…
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Sometimes the words and ideas for a story just won’t come. But see a photo, or word and suddenly your mind is alive with possibilities. Today, I give you an image of a secret garden as a prompt. Who you add to the garden is up to you. You could write a children’s story and…
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Turning a Negative into a Positive A few years ago, editors used to send rejection letters. Some would be standard and others would be personal and offer some helpful advice about why the submission wasn’t suitable. Nowadays, many editors don’t even seem to have the time to send a standard rejection. So, if you do…
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This week, my Monday motivation takes the form of a picture – and a grisly one to make you sit up, get thinking and write! Looking at the photo, here’s what came to mind for me: The Killing The knife plunges in, Blood oozes out, Splashing me, cascading down, Again I stab, deeper this time,…
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Have Fun With Your Writing! As writers, it’s so easy to get caught up in meeting deadlines, getting over writers’ block, trying to earn a living etc. so it’s no wonder we forget to enjoy writing. And enjoyment is exactly why we started writing in the first place. So forget the novel/short story/article you’re working…
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Last week, I wrote about looking back over your writing achievements and recognising how far you’ve come. This week, it’s the turn of the photo. It’s always good to look back over photos. They bring back an explosion of memories, some happy, some sad. I found a photo of my lovely grandad last week. He…
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Be versatile! As writers, we know what we like. Perhaps you enjoy writing fiction and want to become a novelist. Or maybe you yearn to be a screen writer or journalist. So, knowing what we like to write, we often stick to it and don’t try other forms of writing. Have you thought about copywriting?…
Esther Chilton 