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Come in. Share your stories. Help us to promote discussion and learning among writing colleagues. Feel free to explore. You will encounter
Blog posts of two varieties
One appears as encouraging and supportive articles
The other as reflections on my writing experiences
The author gym, designed to give writing muscles a workout
My fledgling book library

Reflections and affirmative articles

Regular reflections about recent personal experiences as a writer.
Articles through which your writing may be stimulated and our conversations around writing begun.

Writing Blog

Eradicate the writing fortress myth

A writing fortress? You absolutely need one. OK, that argument done. A writing fortress is somewhere to get safely away and sit/stand/lie and write, free of distraction.

If you are new to the world of novel writing, do you need help with the construction of your fortress? Who do you ask? Where can a fortress be found? Who will guard the gates once I move in (friends, family, others (public librarian, dog))?

Page 97 — reader agony. Page 98?

Good morning.

One of your (many) readers has just had their emotions shredded, little by little, chunk by chunk, as you pushed, dragged, bullied them through hell. They are drained, shaken.

End of chapter and they turn the page, overrun by whatever emotion you have decided to inflict and build to flashpoint. What have you prepared for readers as they continue into the journey?

Page 98. On page 98, the players know nothing of …

Writers — you must do this

But, writers must do so many things. Don’t they? What is it that is so important? Put this one right near the top of your list, or not. Up to you.

Think about your current, next, first, book/s. Ask yourself why you are writing it/them.

You may be in the middle of a vast series such as ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘The Millennium Trilogy’. You may even be stepping over the threshold of a new world, tiptoeing cautiously into the shallows of the unchartered ocean that will become your nemesis while you plot its rage, before publishing its fraught tale.

Your answer to the ‘why’ will reveal many things. Importantly, how key is finishing the work to your future or current …

Collectibles that add heat to your writing

As kids we collected all manner of bits and pieces. Some were tossed out by disapproving seniors. As a writer, I have started collecting firelighters for my stories. Firelighters? Yes, small bits of kindling that one often passes by along the less trodden paths that writers walk, fly, skip, roll …

If I wander past a word or phrase that sparks my brain, I grab it and file it away. Photos give me endless avenues for describing scenes and emotions …

My novel is such a mess. Arrgh

Good morning. Have you ever found yourself saying/screaming this? Let these few hours of mayhem be a warning to all those working on their next, eagerly anticipated, piece. If you have not yet reached that dreamy goal of becoming a full-time writer, this applies even more to you. Why? Read on.

Most of us supplement the pittance trickling through from royalties with the infamous nine-to-five timeslot of billions. We must remain on track if we are to raise our status to that of the near deity that is the full-time writer who …

Writers in the headlights

Good morning. In a writing world that is swamped with information, we tend to ignore some clear early warning signals. I did just that, this week.

The week was actually moving along nicely. I had spent a good deal of time messing around with my website (hope you notice some improvements — let me know if you have any feedback) and was eager to start working on building up a list of writing friends. As usual there was Google/Bing/Firefox/… with their near-infinite solutions to my problem.

People at the local writing group were aghast ..

Writers — find a way to do this

Good morning.

Oh no, I did it again. You would think that, by now, I would know better. A super scene for my current novel slid into my daydreaming as I walked along the beach, interrupting the serenity. It persisted and developed for a minute or two while my enthusiasm for the day assured me I would recall it later as I sit feverishly typing until keys almost melted. I know what you are thinking, but all was well. My scene was firmly embedded, catalogued for ..

Writing a novel is easier than it seems

Good morning.

New to writing? Yes? Great. Because even if you have not yet written your first word, your story has already begun to emerge. You may have been thinking about it for years — yearning to lay it out in chapters of a novel. Many dream just that, and never begin, and never find out if that story was worthy of an audience.

If you look at the future of what must be done in too much detail, the mountain you must climb to become an author with your first book may seem insurmountable. Your genre requires …