So you’re about to begin the process of writing the initial draft of your essay, your novel, or your creative non-fiction piece. Chances are that you’ve already brainstormed about a dozen concepts or ideas for your literary project. Read the rest of this entry »

If you don’t know already – our Short Story Competition has just opened and accepting entries, which makes this an opportune time for me to give you some advice on how to make your competition entry the very best it can be. Well, when I say I’ll give you the advice, what I really mean is I’m going to climb inside an expert’s head, pull out all the really good stuff and pass it on to you. Read the rest of this entry »

So, you want to write a historical/sci-fi/medical/crime (delete as appropriate) novel. And you want it to be as authentic as possible, which means getting the little details right. You need to know what kinds of clothes are worn, what terminology is used, what procedures are used and so on. Or you are writing an article and you need to gather facts, accurate facts, to flesh it out. Where do you go to find those facts? Read the rest of this entry »

First, thanks to Jacqui Rochford for last Friday’s blog post. I must admit that although I enjoy poetry (after a trip to the WWI battlefields, I’ve just been revisiting Wilfred Owen and reading John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields), I’m no expert. So, I found it interesting to learn about a form (the sonnet corona) that I’d never come across before. Read the rest of this entry »

As most of you are probably aware, finishing your book is only half the job. The other half is promoting it like mad so you can get some sales. I know, you thought that promotion was the publisher’s job, right? Read the rest of this entry »