The hardest thing about writing
Do you know what the hardest thing is about writing? The hardest thing about writing isn’t coming up with a clever plot, or writing convincing dialogue, or creating complex and believable characters. The hardest thing about writing is actually just sitting down to do it. But just because this is the hardest thing doesn’t mean…
How to write a Page-Turner
The secret to writing a page-turner, whether it’s horror, sci-fi, romance, or any other genre, is a lot simpler than you might expect. When we’re lost in the pages of a book, desperate to reach the end, we often don’t even see what the writer is doing to keep us hooked. The point is that…
One month of journaling prompts for writers
I truly believe that all creative writers, whether they’re beginners or more established, would do well to maintain a journaling practice. Journaling is a wonderful way to get to know yourself, your memories, feelings, doubts, fears, obsessions… in short, things you care about that, someday, you might want to explore in your creative writing. I…
How to keep your story interesting (even if the pace is slow)
Stories don’t always need to have a fast-paced plot to stay interesting. At the same time, you don’t want to send your readers to sleep with lengthy passages that go nowhere. Follow these 5 tips if you want to make sure your story stays compelling, even if nothing much is happening on the surface. Have…
A Dialogue Writing Exercise
Do you struggle with writing dialogue for your story or script that feels realistic, compelling, nuanced, and adds to the story rather than bogging it down? You are not alone, and here is a simple writing exercise that’s going to help you master the art of writing dialogue. Start with two characters. Maybe they’re characters…
What to Do if you Get Stuck
What do you do if you’re writing something, and you just… get stuck? Getting stuck in the middle of writing usually happens for one of four reasons. Once you understand the reason, the fix is pretty simple. So which one is it for you? Reason one: your writing has taken a wrong turn. You’ve made…
The importance of theme
There’s one major thing that’s stopping a lot of stories, books and scripts from truly living up to their potential, and that’s a lack of understanding or emphasis on theme. Theme is so important but it often gets forgotten in favour of things like plot and character. And yes, without plot and character, you have…
What ‘Show Don’t Tell’ Actually Means
You’ve probably heard the common writing rule ‘show don’t tell’… but what does it actually mean? Let me break it down, because understanding and following this rule of thumb can be the difference between writing that is good, and writing that is GREAT. I’ll demonstrate what I mean by answering this question in two different…
How to Write the Perfect First Sentence
Our story’s first sentence is very important, because this is what grabs our reader’s attention. It also signposts what kind of writer we are, and what kind of story we will be telling. So how on earth do we get this first sentence right? What a first sentence can’t be is boring or plain. It…
The Secret to Writing Every Day
If you want to develop as a writer, the best way to do this is to write as much as possible. Ideally, you should write every day. Every day may seem like a lot (it did to me when I was first starting out!) but writing every day is not only possible, it’s easily achievable,…
A Space to Write 