Reasons to celebrate at the end of each draft

Writing, re-drafting, and editing. It's a long cycle, but all steps involved in turning your initial idea into a fully finished story. It's always a great feeling, finishing the first draft, and cause to celebrate. But when it comes to subsequent drafts, we tend to just move on to the next step. But really, we…

3 must-have books on novel editing

Editing; it's one of those love/hate parts of being a writer. Whether you enjoy the process or loathe it, it is an unavoidable and essential part of the novel writing process. And you will likely edit the same manuscript not once, not twice, but three, four, five....you get the idea! There are many resources out…

What’s Happening? How to be sure each chapter is moving your story forward

When it comes to novel writing, each scene is about moving the plot. Every chapter should play its part in keeping the story moving; be it through action, character progression, revelation, or added suspense/mystery. It can be tempting, when we love our characters, to fill in their backstory, fluffy side plots, or general information and…

7 Writing Achievements from 2018

Morning all. It's that time again, the brink of a new year. Last year, I posted a similar post, highlighting my writing achievements from 2017. It may a bit out of my usual blogs, which aim to share tips and inspiration, however I've said before that I also want this blog to be a record…

5 Ways To Portray Your Characters

Morning writers! I hope you've all had a good week. As my first draft for novel 2 plods along, I am realising that I need to do more work on portraying my characters. My revisions, re-writes and edits will focus heavily on the characters and how they are portrayed to the reader. So, I've already…

Turning an Idea into a Plot

Good morning writers, I hope you've had a great week. I took a little time out this week, and took myself to Edinburgh for a few days. It's an amazing city, and my aim was to spend some time alone, plotting novel 2 ahead of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Whether you're planning to take…

Advice On Submitting to Agents

Morning world builders, I hope you've all had a great week. Last Sunday I sent of my first ever submissions. I sent my carefully crafted work out into the world, and now I am up against the long wait for inevitable rejections and potential feedback. It's taken a long time to reach this point and…

Novel Writing: What If It’s Boring?

Good morning, amazing writing community. I hope you're all well. I wanted to take today to share one of my biggest writing fears. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this. What if my novel is boring? When you spend so much time with the story, it can be hard to tell. And…

Novel Editing Mistakes to Avoid

Good morning, superstars. I hope you've all had a brilliant week. For me, it's been another week of editing. Does it ever end? With editing on the brain it seemed only appropriate for this weeks blog post to focus on editing. And so I've made a list of novel editing mistakes to avoid. Take a…

3 Reasons to Take a Break from Writing

Morning storytellers and life changers! I hope you are all a great week. I'm away at the moment, visiting a friend, so I'm keeping it short and sweet today on the blog. I want to talk about the importance of taking a break. As writer's we are told to make writing a habit, to write…