Tag Archives: tips on writing

Writing With Emotion – Four Top Tips

Writers are in the business of selling emotion. I forget who said that, but it’s true. We read – or at least I do – because we want to feel something. We might want to feel amused, uplifted, scared, touched, … Continue reading

Posted in Ice and a Slice, Inspiration, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Six tips for writing shorts for Nanowrimo

As I mentioned in my last blog I’m busy doing Nanowrimo this month. But as usual I’m writing 50k of short stories in November not a novel. This is more useful for me, being as shorts are my day job. … Continue reading

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, NaNoWriMo, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

How do I stop my romances becoming predictable?

Here’s another question from a recent postbag at Writers’ Forum. This one comes up quite a bit.  We’re talking fictional ones by the way! Q A common cause for the rejection of short stories (I know, because I’ve received many!) is … Continue reading

Posted in Dear Della, Questions from Dear Della, Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Writing, Writing problems and solutions | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Holidays for Writers – are they worth it?

I’ve recently been lucky enough to spend time at two well known writers’ Summer Schools.  The Writers’ Holiday at Fishguard (Pembrokeshire) and Swanwick the Writers’ Summer School (Derbyshire). So what can you do at a writers’ holiday? Apart from network and enjoy … Continue reading

Posted in Inspiration, Retreat, Writing, Writing conferences & schools | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Do all stories need conflict? and How do unknown writers get published?

A couple more question from my post bag at Writers’ Forum 🙂 Q: Do all stories have to feature conflict, resolution and growth, with false hopes and disappointments along the way? I appreciate that a straightforward happy little narrative would … Continue reading

Posted in Dear Della, Questions from Dear Della, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tips on writing emotion

Writers are in the business of selling emotion.  I don’t remember who said that, but it’s spot on. If a reader doesn’t emotionally connect with a character they won’t care about them and they won’t read on. So getting emotion … Continue reading

Posted in Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Inspiring Quotes About Writing

1. Talent is not as important as authenticity. 2. Editing makes it perfect but raw is sometimes better. Don’t polish out the sparkle. 3. The best way to find your voice is to write more. 4. What comes from the … Continue reading

Posted in ideas, Inspiration | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Happy Ever After – or is it? How do you get a good end?

For me, endings have always been the most difficult thing to get right.  But a bad ending can ruin an otherwise excellent story. There are all sorts of bad endings. You probably recognise most of these. They don’t really need … Continue reading

Posted in News, Questions from Dear Della, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The New Year’s Resolution every writer will keep

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? We set a New Year’s resolution – this year we are going to write the novel, write every day, submit ten short stories a month to magazines. Will we keep them? Well, … Continue reading

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Ten Stories NOT to send to Woman’s Weekly

I was lucky enough to be teaching with the very lovely Gaynor Davies at Woman’s Weekly last Monday. Here are a list of stories she currently does NOT WANT because a) they have too many already or b) they’d been … Continue reading

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Woman's Weekly, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments