Martin Cavannagh

Contributor

Writer, presenter, and Head of Content at Reedsy. As the host of Reedsy Live, Martin has had the pleasure of sharing cutting-edge insights from some of the world's best editors, designers, marketers, and the occasional bestselling author. His newsletters, live streams, and blog posts reach millions of writers each month, inspiring the next generation of beloved writers. 

Martin has appeared on various panels (both virtual and in-person), including the Writer's Summit at the 2024 London Book Fair. Outside of books, his interests include hillwalking, the films of Wong Kar-Wai, and discovering great local noodle dishes.

Recent posts

Fix weak style in writing: 9 tasks

Weak style in writing has the power to make a new reader close your book and pick up another instead. Improve style in your fiction with these 9 tasks: 1. Cut out pleonasms What is a 'pleonasm'? Derived from the Ancient Greek word for 'excess', a pleonasm refers to using more words than ne...

September 9th, 2019

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Finding story ideas romance hasn't exhausted: 7 sources

Seeking original story ideas romance hasn't done to death? Try these 7 approaches to finding romance story inspiration: 1. Search romantic words in Google News News articles are often great sources of inspiration. They may supply character ideas or else the basic contours of a story idea y...

August 19th, 2019

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How to write romance that feels real

Learning how to write romance that feels real is important if you want readers to believe your love story. Read the following tips on how to write chemistry, compatibility, complexity and other key elements of real relationships: 1. Add chemistry to first encounters  There are countl...

July 11th, 2019

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How do you write an outline for a novel? 7 easy steps

Many authors enjoy the creative freedom of not having any structure to begin. Yet writing a story outline has many benefits. A flexible plan makes brainstorming ideas, finding possible character arcs and other parts of the writing process so much easier. Read seven simple steps to write an outli...

June 18th, 2019

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Writing action scenes: 6 ways to keep scenes riveting

Whether you're writing a breakneck thriller, action screenplay or a script for a video game or graphic novel, writing action scenes that keep readers (or viewers) entertained is essential. Read 6 ways to make scenes more gripping: 1. Keep exposition focused and relevant to coming action Ex...

May 13th, 2019

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How to evoke powerful images in your reader's mind

Guest author Jerry Jenkins shares his top tips for authors, including 'engaging the theater of your reader's mind' and resisting the urge to explain. A writer wrote me recently and complained she was struggling to get enough detail into her story to give her readers the 'same pictures I see ...

May 9th, 2019

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