Earlier in the year, I shared some tips for those who want to write professionally. One of my tips was about building your track record, which included entering writing competitions. Reader Question Frank got in touch to ask how you identify which writing competitions increase the likelihood of getting shortlisted or winning a prize. So today I’m…
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4 Strategies to Help you Write the Messy Middle in a Calm but Creative Way
Have you heard the phrase the ‘messy middle’? Well, I had a great question from a reader recently. Jess got in touch to say: – I’ve written a strong beginning and ending to my play but I’m struggling with the middle! Do others have this problem too and if so, what should I do? Firstly,…
Fun Round-up of Helpful Writing Resources
This is a fun round-up of helpful writing resources and tips that were shared at a recent London Writers’ Meetup. Books If you’re writing a novel, Save the Cat writes the Novel by Jessica Brody was recommended by a couple of novelists, who both said they found it invaluable for developing and structuring their novels. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert was…
Writing While Grieving (or Struggling with Some Other Equally Painful Experience)
It’s been a few months since my last post. Sadly my Mum passed away very unexpectedly earlier in the year, so, it’s been a tough couple of months. However, shortly after her death, I landed myself a big new animation writing job (something I’d applied for a couple of months before). Wonderful news – but…
The Pros and Cons of Entering Writing Competitions
Entering writing competitions is a very popular tactic among writers. So today, I want to explore the pros and cons of competitions, to give you the best possible chance of success. A bit like gambling, entering a writing competition can be thrilling, because it’s hard to resist daydreaming about being the winner. But are they…
How to Make Yourself Sit Down and Write, Even if You’re Not in the Mood
We all have days when, no matter what we do, we just can’t make ourselves sit down and write. For some of us, these dry spells can stretch on for days, weeks or even months. There are so many tempting distractions luring us away from the blank page! So today I want to do a deep…
How to build your stamina when writing something long
Today I’m going to share 11 helpful strategies for helping you to build your stamina, especially when embarking on a long piece of writing. These exact strategies helped me to write multiple feature length scripts, and develop an animation series, without running out of steam or getting burnt out. Sometimes we jump into a big…
20 Quick Tips to Help You Develop a Regular Writing Habit
For me, having a regular writing habit is the key to both joyful writing and to being a productive writer. Here are 20 quick tips to help you develop your own writing habit. Try one – or several – of the ideas below, whatever tickles your fancy, just so long as you pick up your…