Want to produce really flash stories? Sharpen your writing skills with flash fiction. Small is beautiful Apart from winning competitions, there are beneficial spin-offs from writing flash fiction: finding one word to replace four stretches your vocabulary; keeping it tight
How to Read Like a Writer…and why
What writer is not familiar with Stephen King’s advice: ‘Read a lot, write a lot’? For him, reading is important because ‘it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing.’ Reading like writers achieves greater intimacy and a
Tips on how to write a book review
Writing a review is easier than you might think and an essential part of the reading process. It’s a great feeling to re-live the joy of a good read by sharing your enthusiasm with others. I’m not talking about literary
How to Write Without Adverbs
This morning’s email from a friend, written in panic, and ending with “Help!” was sparked by advice from the judge of a story competition he wanted to enter. The advice was this: ‘Do not use adverbs.’ “But the second word
6 Editing Tips: Find and Seek
Editing a book, whether of fiction or non-fiction, involves a series of subtly different processes. A structural edit reviews the arrangement and flow of the ‘story’ into chapters and paragraphs; what is revealed when, and in whose voice, aiming for