Make Inciting Incidents Happen Sooner
Forget the old ‘rules:’ make inciting incidents happen sooner. The same conclusion I reached over a year ago came from […]
The Badly-Plotted Deus Ex
How many stories fall into the badly-plotted Deus Ex Machina ending? A miraculous resolution to a seemingly doom-laden ending, the
How to Escalate a Series
It’s a common writing challenge: how to escalate a series. How do you create a bigger ‘bang’ for books two,
Mix Short and Long sentences
Apparently authors are supposed to mix short and long sentences to captivate the audience. Recently, a writing tool accused me
National Book Lovers Day 2024
Discover the joy of reading on National Book Lovers Day 2024, which happens to fall on Friday 9 August. What
Wrestling with Book Categories
Right now I’m wrestling with book categories; where do my books fit in the melee of marketing? Who are they
Children’s Summer Book Club 2024
The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 launched the Children’s Summer Book Club 2024. Each year an author panel recommends
Cross-country Travel in Fiction
Chase, quest, military campaign; suddenly you’re an expert in cross-country travel in fiction. Listen to the audio version on our
Enter Late and Leave Early
Valuable writing advice: enter late and leave early. It applies to scenes, chapters and whole stories. You’re welcome. You want
Find Your Readers 2024
Find Your Readers 2024 has come around really fast this year. Running 20th-23rd July, the virtual summit from Daniel David