Tips to Writing a Book You’ll Love
huffingtonpost.com – Friday June 3, 2016
Part of being an author is having trouble writing. No matter how great the story, even well-polished writers inevitably get stuck, frustrated, or lost somewhere along the way.
Before I started working on Tale of Tala, my most recent novel, set to be released later this year, inspired by a girl who leaves home to join ISIS with her husband, I spent a considerable amount of time researching some techniques to help facilitate my writing process. But many suggestions, such as “remember to live,” seemed a little too vague for practical use.
With every book I write I seem to pick up a few techniques that make everything a little easier the next time around. Below are some of the best practical writing tips I’ve acquired for writers like me who occasionally need a push in the right direction.
If Writing Books Were Easy, Everyone Would Do It
huffingtonpost.com – Thursday June 2, 2016
A debut novelist wrote to me the other day about his manuscript. I had first “met” this author a year ago through email. A friend of a friend. The email he sent me back then, I’ve received many times over, albeit from other writers.
I’ve even sent that same email myself, years before I published my first book.
The letter goes something like this:
Writing a series? Here’s a series of things to think about
irishtimes.com – Thursday June 2, 2016
The concept of serialised fiction is not a recent one. A significant number of nineteenth-century novelists (Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas among them) were published for the first time in serial form, some even reacting to readers’ responses while they continued to write.
How to Start a Blog: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need
onblastblog.com – Thursday June 2, 2016
I think you’ll agree with me when I say:
Everyone wants to feel and achieve success and happiness in their lives.
You’re here because you’re considering starting a blog.
Forget what you’ve heard about making a blog. Creating your own is very simple and rather quick when you know what you’re doing.
This step-by-step guide below will show you EXACTLY how to get started, so that you can have your blog up and running within minutes.
Why Do Magazines and Book Publishers Rip Off Ideas? (Because They Can.)
huffingtonpost.com – Wednesday June 1, 2016
There’s nothing new under the sun. This old saw is one of the first things you learn on the job if you’re a writer, artist, or other drudge who tries to earn a living making things up.
I can still remember my astonishment when, a few years after my first book for kids was published by Henry Holt in 1994, an almost ridiculously similar children’s title (though in pop-up form) came out from Little Simon.
Top writing tips
theguardian.com – Wednesday June 1, 2016
From that killer first line to dealing with writer’s block, author Chris D’Lacey shares his top writing tips.
Six Things All Self-Publishers Should Know
huffingtonpost.com – Sunday May 29, 2016
Last year I self-published my first real book - by this I mean a book that I physically launched and is in bookshops and everything. A book I have promoted and sunk time and money into; a book that I’ll be spending the next 18 months focusing on continuing to push out into the world.
How to Turn Your ‘Off’ Writing Days Into ‘On’ Days
huffingtonpost.com – Saturday May 28, 2016
When it comes to the discipline of writing, there’s a lot of talk about showing up. Butt in chair. Schedule the time. Keep your dates with yourself. All of this is good advice, and the most successful and prolific authors have the disposition or the drive or the self-governance required to stay the course on the long and arduous journey of writing a book, or multiple books.
Harry Potter and the Minotaur’s Rage: how fanfiction got me into writing
newstatesman.com – Wednesday May 25, 2016
My fanfiction was almost uniformly awful, like most of the things I did or liked when I was becoming myself.
Writing a book with your dad is hard. It's harder if your dad is Thomas Keneally
theguardian.com – Monday May 23, 2016
There’s a thick and slightly battered volume on my bookshelf, with a line drawing of a man in a deerstalker hat. The book, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, has an inscription on the cover page. It reads: “To Meg, who has made and will make great fantasies of her own. Love, your father.” The date he has written is that of my 12th birthday.
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
