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How to Succeed at Novel Competitions With the Bath Novel Awards

Apr 9, 2025

For many novel writers, entering a competition can feel like an exciting but daunting step. Is your manuscript ready? What do judges look for? Could this really help you in your writing career or are you just wasting your time? In this guest post, Caroline Ambrose, founder and director of the Bath Novel Awards, shares…

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How Do You Know if Your Idea Is Good Enough to Be a Novel?

So, you've decided: you're going to write a novel – and you have an idea for one, too. But is it good enough? In the second article in our Ask...
Beginning

How to Start a Story: 8 Proven Strategies

What’s the best way to start a story? Should you begin ‘in media res’ – in other words, in the thick of the action? Or should you first describe the...
Make it happen

How Do You Get In the Mood for Writing? 10 Authors Share the Habits That Got Them Published

You want to write a novel – you really do. The problem is, you're just... never in the mood for writing. We feel you. Wanting to write is one thing...
Ask an author

Introducing our new blog series, ‘Ask An Author’!

Are you a writer who dreams of being a successful author? Or perhaps you’re just curious about what life as an author is really like... Either way, you’re in the...
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How to Write a Novel in a Year

Katja Kaine is an award wining novelist and the creator of The Novel Factory. Her debut novel, Blood of Gods and Girls, will be published in early 2026 by Penguin...
Presents

12 Gift Ideas for Writers (That AREN’T Books!)

It's a well-known fact that writers love receiving books, but sometimes it’s nice to do something a little bit different. Whether you want to help inspire creativity, make their writing...
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Katja Kaine: How I Got My Agent (And a Six Figure Book Deal!)

AKA My thirteen year writing journey from doe-eyed dreamer to serious author... I devoured these ‘How I Got My Agent’ articles while I was in the query trenches¹. Doing so...
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Protagonist vs Antagonist

Introduction You have likely been told that characters in your story should want something, and it would be a frightfully dull novel if your characters got everything they wanted without...
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Scrivener vs Word: Which One Suits You Better?

You’ve heard that Scrivener and Word are great ways to organise your novel elements. But which one is better for your needs? In this blog, we'll compare Scrivener and Word...