Trusting our readers to understand overall themes and meanings of stories.

Arts and science are seen as opposites - one side is emotional and subjective, the other cool and rational. There's some truth in that,...

Should you stay in the moment, or should you pull back to a summary of generalities? A good scene stays close to a viewpoint character...

“Make your characters want something right away, even if it's only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of...

If you want a particular closeness to a character and their experiences, first-person viewpoint can help. And the first thing to do in...

We know that the first line, paragraph or scene of a book is so important, but how can writers hook their readers and have them turning...

We've already started! Last Wednesday we tried something a bit different – a few live writing exercises to fix specific issues in my...

What can I say? Life's been a bit hectic, what with beating myself up on a canyoning adventure on holiday, and talking myself to death at...

Is brevity the soul of wit? Often it is – to write good dialogue, you need to be as conscious of what to leave out as what to put in....

Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you. – Gustav Holst I think many of us have been...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu You may want to give writing a try, but the idea of beginning is...

Great descriptions evoke a sense of something, and give the reader more than just facts. A major element of creative writing is showing...

Think about the books you’ve read that have made a lasting impression upon you – the books that you go back to many times. Then think...

‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’ – Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in...

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. – Alfred Hitchcock Before you start thinking I’m selling a new miraculous cleaning product that...

‘Show, don’t tell’ is often billed as the golden rule of writing a story. And this is a crucial skill to master. But it’s not a rule – or...

Getting your viewpoint right in your fiction is a key element of good writing – and one of the most common things that an editor will...

After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world. – Philip Pullman, quoted on Goodreads...