Each January, I set goals for the year ahead. Having an image of what I can achieve gets me excited and motivates me into action. I start by listening to my favorite podcasts, as they always have good tips on goal setting and how to turn my plans into actionable steps. In the words of […]
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#31 – Writing Sprints to the Rescue
Writing Sprints are the turbo button in your writing kit. With them in your toolbox, you have the potential to double or treble your average words per hour. That increased output, added to the momentum you will get, can really propel your book forwards.
#30 – Bard of the Isles Magazine – Issue 3
Issue 3 of Bard of the Isles online magazine is live now and free to read. This is compiled and produced by members of the British and Irish Writing Community. There’s short fiction from Matthew Ward, Thomas Mullen, Nigel Potts, Jenny Hannaford-Jennings, P S Livingstone and Lee Conley, an interview with author Peter McLean and […]
#29 – My Writing Year Review
As the final day of 2019 draws to a close, I’ve been reviewing my year and planning for the next one. In many ways, I feel that looking back over the past twelve months is more valuable than looking ahead. Yesterday I spent an hour or so reading back through my journal and writing timesheets, […]
#28 – When Real Life Interrupts Your Writing
You’ve established a daily writing routine and your word count is climbing steadily. Suddenly, Real Life barges in, announces an emergency and drags you away from your book. Hours turn to days and before you realise it, weeks have passed, and your growing word count is a faded memory.
#27 – Get a Free Copy of my Crime Thriller – Hard Choices
Great news readers. Hard Choices, which is the first book in my Rogue series, will be available for free download from 28th – 31st August, as part of a book bundle. Yay 🙂 It’s part of the Suspenseful Reads giveaway, a collection of five books from Prolific Works. This is a great chance to try […]
#26 – Write Your First Draft With Freedom
If you’ve read any articles or books about the craft of writing or listened to author podcasts, you’ll have heard that a first draft is always rubbish, pure crap. The goal of the first draft is to get the story down in some shape, to produce something that can later be improved and transformed into […]
#25 – 3 Easy Steps to Identify Your Resistance To Writing
Daily writing is important to me, but there have been some days when I just haven’t put myself in the seat and started typing. While out walking recently, I tried to figure out the why’s, the reasons for my resistance. It proved to be a useful exercise, so I decided to share my process in […]
#24 – 7 Reasons a Daily Word Count is a Good Idea
There have been many articles written on the subject of a daily word count, and it seems there’s an equal number of writers for and against the idea. Over the past two months, I’ve used this technique while writing the first draft of my latest novel and would certainly recommend it. Read on to find […]
#23 – Get Inside Your Character’s Head
It’s natural when writing a novel to assume the role of master planner, the decider of who does what and when. This is especially true for plotters, those of us who need to know exactly what course our story will take. Recently, I discovered a downside to this approach, at least for me. I was […]
#22 – The Benefits of Writing Every Day
For me, writing every day makes a big difference. I find that when I work on my project every day, the characters and plot stay fresh in my mind, and I am likely to start thinking about them when I’m waiting in a queue or sitting in traffic. My book becomes an integral part of […]
#21 – Happy New Year Writers
Happy New Year writers. New Year’s resolutions are a great idea. They help us to set intentions for the months ahead and can kick-start new projects or breathe life into dormant ones. A new year feels like a blank slate with endless potential, free from the clutter of the half-finished drafts and scrappy short stories […]
#20 – 15 Christmas Gift Ideas For Writers
I’ve heard it said that it’s easy to buy a gift for a writer; however I suspect that the items actually purchased frequently fall into one of three categories – books, notebooks and ‘a nice pen’. If you or the writer in your life is anything like me, they can’t pass a book or stationery […]
#19 – Recharge Your Writing Energy at OctoCon
I spent most of last weekend at OctoCon (The National Irish Science Fiction Convention). I first heard about it last year and went along, tempted by the Author Panels listed on the programme. A panel consists of three to four authors and a moderator presenting to an audience on a specific topic. Most people have heard […]
#18 – What Makes a Great Book
I have just finished reading ‘I Still Dream’ by the English author James Smythe, and it got me thinking about what makes a great book. Of course, the answers will vary from one person to another, influenced by preferred genre, personal interests, hobbies, and maybe even our upbringing or careers. However, I suspect that there […]
#17 – Using Small Chunks of Time to Write
We all know there are benefits to writing every day, even just a few hundred words, but despite our best intentions and plans, Friday often arrives and we realise we haven’t added any new words to our book. The likelihood of this happening is increased for those of us with day jobs, kids or other […]
#16 – When Your Writing Stalls From Plot Overload
The Scenario. I usually write in the evenings after I get home from work and have had dinner. When I started Rogue 2, these sessions went pretty well but over the past two months, some evenings have been a real struggle. I blamed a combination of factors for this slowdown: fatigue from a day staring […]
#15 – Free Writing’s Superpowers
In last month’s blog post entitled Have Fun With Free Writing, I wrote about the benefits of Free Writing and gave some tips on how to get started. This month, I’ll be sharing some innovative ways of using the free writing technique to help with your work in progress, whether that be a short story, […]
#14 – Have Fun With Free Writing
Free Writing is one of the most undervalued tools an author has in their armoury. Actually, It’s a multi-tool, and unlike many of the gadgets you come across in your local store, each of its functions are genuinely useful. What is Free Writing For me, free writing is the act of writing with wild, untethered […]
#13 – Writing During Your Holidays
We all love holidays. Whether it’s a short city break, a week in the sun or two weeks walking the Camino de Santiago, it’s a break from our day job and often a welcome dose of sunshine. But wait – it’s taken you weeks to establish your early morning writing habit, and you’re finally at […]