Why is viewpoint so important in telling your story? Surely it’s obvious that the story is presented from the point of view of the main character - the hero or heroine?

More than ever before readers are crying out for something to lift them out of the tide of dire news and the pressures of modern life. To be able to bring a smile to peoples faces, or even make them laugh out loud, can prove to be a highly paid talent.

Flashbacks can usefully be employed to create suspense in a story, or develop a character. By interjecting something from the past that has a bearing on the present, tension and conflict can be heightened.

The thing about ideas is that they are not tangible. They are inside your head - except, of course, when your head has a blank spot where those ideas should be. So let’s see if we can’t find a way to grab them and plonk them down on the desk in front of you. Figuratively [...]

Some writers claim they can sit down with a good idea for a novel and bash away until it’s finished. It takes an extraordinary mind to do that. Most of today’s writers will tell you that they prepare a framework, a synopsis, from which to generate their 100,000 or so words. Here’s a suggested system [...]

Send in a sloppy, grubby manuscript and your chances of rejection are greatly increased. Send in a smart, clean, tidy manuscript and the publishers offices will ring with the cry - “Hey, here’s someone who knows how to do it properly! Break out the Champaign! Bring on the dancing girls!’ But maybe not the latter [...]

Most stories we write take place over a period of time. That time may be very short - even a few minutes; or long - over several years or generations or anywhere in between. But whatever it is, the reader needs to have a clear sense of how time is moving throughout the narrative.
Place your [...]

The nice thing about doing interviews is that your subject doesn’t have to be a mega superstar or football millionaire. Some of the most ordinary seeming people have quite extraordinary lives and experiences. Chances are there is an abundance of such folk in your area.

Tension is built up on a wave of emotion. Emotion fuels the tension and vice versa. Every story needs tension to some degree or other because as a rwiter you want to grab the emotions of your readers. Tension is one way to do just that.
So just what is tension? It is where your character [...]

The vast majority of fiction writers write short stories, whether they write for their own pleasure, for the writing circle they belong to, a competition or whether they aim to get them published. The temptation to bring in lots of exciting characters can be irresistible. But are they necessary?
In a short story you have between [...]