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Where to find story ideas
Have you ever read a story and thought that it was amazing and that you could never do that? Generating story ideas acts a little like a muscle – the more you use it, the easier it gets. Actively looking for story ideas can help you to generate more. You want to begin writing stories…
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How to write a novella
A novella is defined as longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. How long is a novella? There are different definitions, but for this blog post, a novella is defined as: 60 – 120 pages or 7,500 – 40,000 words The plot is more complex than flash fiction or a…
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Start writing flash fiction
Flash fiction is a piece of fiction, usually under 1200 words. There are different definitions of flash fiction. Some writing contests may ask for a piece of flash fiction as short as 50 words. Others may use different word counts to define the term. For the purposes of this article, the definition is under 1200…
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Writer – do you plan or fly by the seat of your pants?
For whatever reason you write, there are usually at least two broad ways to do it. Either you are a planner – someone who plans what they are going to write or you are a pantser. This means someone who is flying by the seat of their pants, or someone who has no plan, they…
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Stronger Fiction: Should you write what you know or know what you write?
One of the oldest pieces of advice for people who want to write fiction is that they should “write what they know’. This sage piece of wisdom is passed down from teachers to young pupils, from tutors to college students and in many creative writing classes. Yet, what does it actually mean? And is it…
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20+ fun things to do when you’re stuck in the house
Do you feel the need to find something positive to do this weekend? As a freelancer who works from home most of the week, I have never really felt that “stuck at home”. Even this week, I have managed to cope with working around (nearly grown up) children, school online and DH working from home.…
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Secrets of Stronger Fiction 1: Characters who run against normal society – Anne with an E
I am not only a writer, I am a reader. I love a good piece of historical fiction, where the details take you back in history, the sights and the smells and the experiences of people long ago fill the story with the results of a writer’s long hours of research. Some of my favourite…
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Day 20: 30 Day Blogging Challenge – Story Plot, Conflict & Resolution
On Day 11 and Day 12, I posted a short story for the purpose of showing you how I edit a story. Here I finish my discussion of the story and will be talking about the plot, the conflict in the story and the resolution. Plot The plot is probably one of the most important…
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Day 19: 30 Day Blogging Challenge – Short Story Setting
My blog posts on Day 11 and Day 12 were two halves of a short story, written quickly to use as an example for editing. Here, I would like to discuss setting. The setting of a story discusses where the story takes place. In The House on the Hill, the action all takes place around…
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Day 15: 30 Day Blogging Challenge – Editing a Story – Characters
On days 11 and 12 I published two halves of a story. This story was written for the purpose of showing you what I do when I edit. I have deliberately published a first draft, with very little editing apart from immediately spotting spelling mistakes etc so that you can see how it will change…
