Writing Short Stories – Christopher Fielden

Christopher Fielden has published quite a number of short stories and can claim wins in prestigious competitions. He knows a thing or two about how to write a readable short story. More importantly, how to write one that has a high success rate for being published and/or winning. Christopher offers a free course as a…

Fiona McArthur on Genre Fiction

Published authors are great. They’ve been there, got the t-shirt and, if they’re generous like Fiona, happy to share what they know. Fiona McArthur has been writing seriously for the past 34 years. She is both traditionally published with Harlequin, Penguin etc as well as indie published. With 65 books to her credit and 7…

COZIES: A SELECTIVE LIST

Reproduced from http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/bibliographies/cosies.html (now unavailable)Compiled by Helene Androski (University of Wisconsin)Each of the following authors wrote (or write) mysteries that contain most of the elements of a cozy: a minimum of violence, sex, and social relevance; the solution is arrived at by ratiocination or intuition rather than forensics and police procedure (or beating a confession…

Writing with Emotion: Techniques for Creating Powerful Scenes

As writers, our goal is to create stories that not only entertain but also evoke emotions in our readers. We want our readers to feel the same emotions that our characters are experiencing, to be invested in their journey, and to care about what happens to them. But how do we achieve this? In this…

From Idea to Page: How to Develop a Story Concept

As a writer, coming up with a concept for your story is the first step in the writing process. It can be overwhelming to start with a blank page, but by following a few simple steps, you can develop a compelling story concept that will capture your readers' attention. In this blog post, we'll explore…

The Power of Dialogue: Techniques for Writing Engaging Conversations

Dialogue is an essential part of fiction writing. It's a powerful tool that can help you create engaging conversations between characters that move the plot forward and reveal important information. But writing effective dialogue can be a challenge, especially for new writers. In this article, we'll explore the power of dialogue and provide you with…

5 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block

Writer's block is a common experience that writers of all levels encounter at some point in their writing life. It can be frustrating and discouraging, but it doesn't need to be a permanent roadblock. There are several ways to overcome writer's block, and in this post, we'll explore five effective techniques that can help you…

‘Voice’ in Creative Writing

Just as the fingerprints of any two people are different, so too is voice in creative writing. 'Voice' can make or break a piece of work. We're not talking about spoken voice but in a way, we are: if you read a piece of prose out loud it would sound different to the same piece…

Writing Humour with Jacqui Winn

Jacqui Winn is a well-read published author, competition judge, and facilitator of writing workshops. She knows a thing or two about the craft of writing. When it comes to humour, Jacqui is adept at weaving humorous moments into her stories to convey a point, lighten a mood or enhance a tale. No wonder a large…

10 Tips for Crafting Memorable Characters

Long after the story has finished, it's often the characters that readers recall with fondness or distaste (for villains). Creating a memorable character is such a crucial aspect of writing engaging fiction. Whether your character is a protagonist, antagonist, or supporting character, it's important to develop them in a way that makes them stand out…