Your story idea is busy cooking on the creative stove inside your head. It will bubble away nicely under a steady heat as you go about your daily business. One day you will get a delicious whiff of your story in the form of an interesting scene or a quirky character and your excitement will […]
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When you commit to writing seriously it can be likened to starting a new relationship. Like all relationships this one, with your writing, will go through many emotional highs and lows. There will be times when your writing will light you inside, fill your body with tingles and make you have a strong urge to […]
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Sometimes, the best part about writing is that my dog is always snoring nearby, offering sleepy moral support as I sit at my desk, agonizing over my latest fictional romance. Lots of well known writers have had pet sidekicks; Charles Dickens’ cherished animal companion was a raven named Grip, Edgar Allan Poe was a cat-person […]
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This is a tough one and can take some writers several years to come to terms with. You have an unfinished draft novel, sat in a drawer or lounging on top of your writing desk or loitering in your writing file on your computer and the thought of finishing it gives you an uncomfortable gut […]
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I am the owner of a small gang of unruly cats and an over excited dog. As an enthusiastic pet owner I often project human traits onto my animals. I am always talking to my cats and dog. They all have elaborate fictional histories and we often speak to one of my cats about his […]
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This weekend will be spent clearing out my dressing table and creating a temporary work desk. As I am working from home in my day job, the teenagers are off school due to half term, my husband is also working from home and we are in the middle of a strict lockdown, I cannot spend […]
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I believe brand new story ideas should be handled with care and attention. Looking back I wish I had read a post like this when I was starting to take my writing seriously. I was so excited with my shiny new story ideas that I wanted to tell everyone I met about them. The trouble […]
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You have been working at the literary coalface for months. Your latest draft novel has taken far longer than you expected. At times working on your draft novel has felt more like going to war than embarking on a wonderful journey of creative discovery. You know far too much about your characters and after spending […]
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Have you ever had to inflict pain and suffering onto one of your much loved fictional characters? Have you ever reluctantly tipped a bucket full of life crap over two characters who have just found true love and as you you were doing it felt like you were betraying two old friends? Have you ever struggled […]
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I am so excited about this post. As a huge fan of all things romantic and someone who gets very carried away at the sight of any romance, within a ten mile radius, this blog post is going to leave me lying on my sofa with a cold compress on my forehead. Today we are […]
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