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Editing tips from Raymond Carver
There are at least two versions of Raymond Carver’s collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. This gives us a unique opportunity to compare the writer’s original work with the edited stories. What lessons about editing are there? Read on for editing tips from Raymond Carver ...
April 9th, 2013
Read post...Tips from Ernest Hemingway's short stories
In novels such as For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms and short stories including “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” American writer Ernest Hemingway explored such themes as restlessness, war, loss and death and became an enormous influence on...
April 2nd, 2013
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How to copyright your novel: Protecting your IP
Wikipedia aka ‘Big Brother’ tells us that copyright is a legal concept, giving the creator of an original work, exclusive rights to it. It could be images, poems, audio recordings, designs, movies … and your book of course. From your point of view, if you consider the blood, sweat and sometim...
February 15th, 2013
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How to write a book proposal: Compelling pitches
Knowing how to write a book proposal or pitch is crucial for hooking publishers' interest. The tips below will help you craft a better proposal: 1. Learn the elements a book proposal should include Your novel's elevator pitch is like a logline. It should give publishers' editors a fast, cl...
February 6th, 2013
Read post...Top 10 writing contests: Prestige and prizes
One of the best ways to get recognised as a writer is to enter a writing competition. Of course you are not guaranteed to win, but if you do you will be able to use that to add to your credibility once you are ready to publish – it is also great practice! The Writer’s Digest: This well-...
January 17th, 2013
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Tips from the Masters: Lessons from Charles Dickens
Emulating Charles Dickens’s writing style has been attempted by many, and only partially achieved by few. It is mostly known to be old-fashioned, outrageously imaginative, wordy and sentimental. His popularity is probably most attributed to the fact that he wrote in installments, keeping hi...
December 7th, 2012
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What is good writing? 10 Best Twentieth Century Poems
Ladies and gentlemen, here it is: the 10 Must-Read Twentieth Century Poems! Are you ready? In descending order, we have... 10. Queen Anne’s Lace – William Carlos Williams This Modernist writer utilized vivid imagery expressed through deliberately casual, everyday American English. “Queen Anne’s L...
November 14th, 2012
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Great dialogue: 10 tips from movie dialogue pros
Great dialogue involves your reader or viewer in a conversation completely. Read 10 tips from movie dialogue pros, from Hitchcock to Mamet and others: 1. Make written dialogue visual like movie dialogue In beginners' dialogue, characters often read like floating talking heads in a void. Th...
October 11th, 2012
Read post...J.K. Rowling on how to publish a book
If there’s one person we should all be taking writing advice from, it’s J.K. Rowling. Not only did she manage to write a book that spawned a series and a series of hugely successful movies, she transformed herself from a never-before-published writer into the first billionaire author on the plan...
October 10th, 2012
Read post...Five great writing tips from J.K. Rowling
These days, J.K. Rowling is a household name all over the world – the first billionaire author on the planet and the creator of a world that many of us can't imagine life without. But how did unpublished writer Joanne Rowling turn into this superstar with film rights sold to Warner Bros as well?...
October 8th, 2012
Read post...Lessons from Roald Dahl’s Charismatic Characters
Reader or not, it would be rare to find an adult that has not heard of the author, Roald Dahl. It may take a moment or two, but mention, ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ or ‘Willy Wonka’ and instantly recognition occurs. His stories strike a chord with adult and child alike, captivating our imaginations gene...
September 28th, 2012
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Start writing a book and stop making excuses: 7 steps
So many aspiring authors want to start writing a book and finish, yet only a percentage of people achieve this dream. For some, it's negative self-speak ('I'm not good enough' or 'my central idea sucks'). For others, it's a combination of struggling with focus, motivation, goal-setting or planni...
July 5th, 2012
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