When editing, I often find myself pulling out a key sentence from a long paragraph to stand on its own. These are important, emotional moments. You might think the reader will understand their impact on the story either way. So why does it matter how they sit on the page?… Continue Reading... "Why the space around your writing can be just as important as the words themselves…"
Repetition, repetition, repetition: is it always a bad thing?
First drafts are often full of repetition. When you’re in writing mode, trying to get words onto the page, it’s very easy to end up using the same word a number of times without noticing. But it’s one of those things that stands out very clearly when you read your… Continue Reading... "Repetition, repetition, repetition: is it always a bad thing?"
24 tips and tricks for writing horror
For Halloween 2021, I challenged myself to tweet a piece of horror writing advice every hour throughout the spookiest day of the year on #24hoursofhorror. To save you searching through Twitter to find them, I’ve collated them all here too. If you’d like to read or reply to the tweets… Continue Reading... "24 tips and tricks for writing horror"
What type of editing do you need? – FREE PDF GUIDE
If you search for “How many different types of editing are there?” online, you’re going to get a variety of answers. Add to that the fact that some of these types of editing may be called different things by different people and you’ll soon understand why finding an editor is… Continue Reading... "What type of editing do you need? – FREE PDF GUIDE"
How to find an editor you can trust – FREE PDF GUIDE
In a world where anyone can create a website and claim to be a professional editor or proofreader, it’s difficult to know who you can trust. And even once you’re sure you’ve found someone who knows what they’re talking about, how can you be sure that the person you choose… Continue Reading... "How to find an editor you can trust – FREE PDF GUIDE"
How to write effective character descriptions
Don’t just write a shopping list of features This is part of that classic piece of advice, “Show, don’t tell”. Say your character is a teenage girl… you could simply tell the reader that she’s a sixteen-year-old dark-haired girl who’s an outcast at school, but you shouldn’t need to do… Continue Reading... "How to write effective character descriptions"
How often should you use speech tags in dialogue?
Speech tags or dialogue tags are the little bits of prose between lines of dialogue that tell the reader who’s talking, and perhaps also something about the way they talk or what they’re doing. “We know that,” they said, in perfect unison. “The question is how often you should use… Continue Reading... "How often should you use speech tags in dialogue?"