Blog

Join us in supporting a literacy charity this Christmas

When considering Christmas promotions recently, we were inspired by the B1G1 – Business for Good initiative. – it seems like the perfect time of year to be grateful for what we have – such as the education, resources and freedom to express ourselves through writing. So instead of offering a Christmas discount, we’ve decided support the charity Room…

Read More
Banner Writers of Instagram

Writers of Instagram – Gone But Not Forgotten?

This is a guest post by Rebecca Armstrong of McGowan Transcriptions It’s every writer’s dream to build a legacy that transcends time, and to create work that still resonates with readers decades or even centuries after their death. With this in mind, it’s fascinating to see how the works of classic authors like William Shakespeare, Jane…

Read More

Writing the first draft of your novel

Plough on, keep looking forward, don’t hesitate By far the most important piece of advice you can follow when writing the first draft of your novel, is to plough on through, and not hang around editing, polishing and tweaking. It can be tempting to redraft the first few chapters several times before you have even…

Read More

Who’s Your Famous Rejection Buddy?

We’ve put together an infographic showing how many times famous books were rejected before they were published or found an agent. See where you would fall on this chart to reassure yourself that you’re in good company when another rejection email pops into your inbox. It’s all just part of the rite of passage. Consider…

Read More

Three reasons you should probably quit writing your novel now (and one reason you should keep going)

It’s hard. You probably won’t make any money. Your heart will be stabbed with a thousand tiny rejections. Give up writing now. Read on for more reasons to throw your manuscript out the window – but just before you do… make sure you read to the end. It’s hard If I had a penny for each…

Read More

Novel Writing Competitions 2018

We have gathered a list of the best Novel Writing Competitions with deadlines in 2018. They are ordered by deadline, and we will aim to update this post regularly, to add new competitions as we discover them. Many of the novel writing competitions are very prestigious, and highly likely to lead to agent representation and…

Read More

6 Writing Success Tips from a Business Owner Turned Writer

Ten years ago I launched my software business, perfectly coinciding with the biggest economic downturn in decades. But while other companies were laying people off and downsizing to cope with the pressures, my company thrived, grew, and is still going strong. When I decided to turn my hand to my passion of writing, it seemed…

Read More
Characterisation tips from Star Wars

Learning about character introductions with Star Wars – The Last Jedi

In this article we’ll examine the introduction of the character Rose in the latest Star Wars film – The Last Jedi – and see how the writers create an interesting, sympathetic character with a few deft strokes. The Star Wars franchise has had its ups and downs – the original movies created some of the…

Read More

9 Steps to National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) Success!

National Novel Writing Month – or Nanowrimo as it’s better known, is an initiative that many writers take part in – where they try to write an entire novel in the month of November. Despite the name it’s actually international – with people all over the world taking part, and rather than having a completed…

Read More

How to do fiction critique (feedback) in a writer’s circle

Getting constructive criticism of your writing is one of the best ways to improve and learn your craft. However, giving critique to other writers isn’t just a way of paying people back for the critique they’ve given you – you can also learn a great deal from analysing other people’s writing to find out what…

Read More