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Your goal for 2018 is to become a better writer, but where do you start? We believe passionately in skills. You may be born with a particular talent for writing, you may have written, and read, a [...]

As our tenth anniversary year draws to a close, we are feeling very grateful. We’d like to say a huge thank you to our supportive community. We would never have lasted ten years without [...]

It’s the time of year we either look forward to or dread (or both in equal measure.) It’s holiday time, the kids are home and the family needs to spend time together, which is important. And all [...]

Our challenge for December and January involves a monkey wrench, a fit of depression and a first edition of Bleak House. Combine all three as cunningly and naturally as possible in a story of 250 [...]

We have invited the finalists onto the stage, we’ve examined them carefully as they paraded their virtues and their finery, and we have come to our decision. Yes, the winner and runners-up of our [...]

I don’t think I’m naturally ruthless. I find it hard to be tough on others, and still harder on myself. My tendency is to tell myself: “You don’t feel like exercise this afternoon? Well, there, [...]

Here’s a decision that writers are frequently called on to make. It’s the choice between creating dramatic irony – in terms of which your protagonist remains ignorant of facts [...]

When you’re struggling with a piece of writing, you long for a breakthrough. But when it comes, it’s not always comfortable. Two of our mentoring participants recently experienced significant [...]

What is fiction best at? Opening up other worlds? Introducing us to people beyond our usual circle? Enabling us to escape the quotidian into landscapes in which love, justice and truth finally [...]

There’s a paradox to writing: it is at once an intensely solitary activity, and at the same time is dependent on the good opinion of a vast community of readers. And while, necessarily, [...]