Category Archives: Tips on writing

What Do Your Short Story characters Look Like?

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Della Galton

Characterisation is the means by which you make your fictional characters appear to be real people. It is probably the most important part of any piece of fiction. If the reader doesn’t care about your character, he or she won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Woman’s Weekly Fiction Workshops – Hot Tips

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Della Galton

A couple of Fridays ago I was teaching again with Gaynor Davies at the Blue Fin Buildings, our subject, Writing Short Stories for Woman’s Weekly. I thought you might like an update. There are two more short story workshops planned … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Woman's Weekly, Writing | Tagged | 19 Comments

Tips on Entering Writing Competitions – Wednesday Writing Spot

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Della Galton

I recently judged the H E Bates Short Story Competition, organised by the Northampton Writers Group. Morgen Bailey is the chair and for today’s Wednesday Writing Spot I’m delighted to welcome Morgen to my blog to give us her tips … Continue reading →

Posted in competitions, Guest Posts, Tips on writing, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Tips for Writers – Novel Layout

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Della Galton

I had a letter recently via my Dear Della page in Writers’ Forum from  a lady who was anxious about the layout of a novel when submitting to publishers. I know there’s a wealth of information out there about writing, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dear Della, Questions from Dear Della, Tips on writing, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Wednesday Writing Spot – Writing Competitions – an insider’s view

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Della Galton

On this week’s Wednesday Writing Spot I am delighted to welcome the lovely Morgen Bailey, who has generously agreed to give us an insider’s view of what goes on behind the scenes in the judging of writing competitions. Based in … Continue reading →

Posted in competitions, Tips on writing, Writing | 4 Comments

The Wednesday Writing Spot – Getting Ideas – Guest Post from Patsy Collins

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Della Galton

This week on the Wednesday Writing Spot, I am delighted to welcome writer, Patsy Collins, who is talking about where she gets her ideas from and her fabulous new short story collection, which is called Up The Garden Path. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Posts, Tips on writing, Wednesday Writing Spot | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

The Wednesday Writing Spot – Plotting the longer Short Story

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Della Galton

Plotting was the bane of my life when I started writing. It still trips me up now occasionally, particularly when I’m changing lengths, for example from 1000 to 2000 words. So here are some tips for writing the longer short … Continue reading →

Posted in plotting, Tips on writing, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing, Writing problems and solutions | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Issue Led Stories

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Della Galton

Issue led stories are controversial – or can be? Should we write them? Especially for magazines. Or should we stick to nice safe subjects like weddings and car boot sales and summer balls. Not that I’ve got anything against these … Continue reading →

Posted in Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Writing | 10 Comments

To Plot or Not

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Della Galton

When you write a novel, one of the first decisions you need to make is how you are going to undertake to write it.  Will you a)  Plan out each chapter in detail so that you know exactly what is … Continue reading →

Posted in plotting, Tips on writing, Writing, Writing problems and solutions | 1 Comment

Author voice – finding yours.

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Della Galton

Voice This is a word that is often bandied about by critics and writing tutors alike. But what does it actually mean? It’s a hard thing to define. For me, it means the way that a novel is written: style … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips on writing | 6 Comments