The short story genre is one that is thriving - but only in certain places. Where are they?
A short story can be roughly defined as any work of fiction below about 12,000 words. A greater wordcount tends to move the story into the realms of the ‘Novella’ or Novelette’, a niche in the writing […]
In short story writing, dialogue is very important for a number of reasons. I’ve listed a few below, not in order of importance - all are important - but to give a ‘points to ponder’ rundown. So - what about dialogue, then?
Dialogue can be defined as the interaction between two characters on a vocal […]
Have you ever wondered how some writers seem to have plenty of ideas to work with and others very few? Well, here perhaps is one reason why . . .
If you have ever listened to anyone say something along the lines of ‘I had this most amazing dream last night - but I can’t just […]
Of the many different writing styles, viewpoint writing is probably the one that works best for aspiring writers - but what is it?
Viewpoint writing is used extensively in modern novels, especially ones that contain fast-paced action. As its name suggests, it’s written from the active character’s viewpoint, telling the reader what the character sees, how […]
Peter Rabbit was a figment of the imagination of the very creative Beatrix Potter. The author was born in 1866 in Victorian Kensington London. Her home was large and sumptuous, her family rich. She was raised with several servants, a shy girl who wiled away many hours of every day by herself.
Beatrix Potter learned […]
There are some simple rules to remember when writing form a character’s viewpoint, yet many forget them. Here’s a rundown of some to remember . . .
No matter what language you speak, regional accents and dialect always give away your origin - unless of course you have had voice coaching. In the UK accent […]
In fiction writing, events occur in strict chronological order. If you would like to know what this means, please read on!
In previous articles I’ve used my fictional tongue-in-cheek character Detective Jake Bullett to help me along. Jake’s tough and gets into a lot of scrapes where things happen quickly. Let’s see what a sample could […]
When writing for women’s magazines it’s important to know the themes that work - and those that don’t. Here we take a look at popular magazine themes.
First off, here’s a question. What kind of stories do you think are printed in women’s magazines? If you don’t read them, chances are that you’ll say ‘romance’. Well, […]
