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We like to say that the best beginning – of a book or short story – should contain a hook and a promise. Hook your reader, and promise them more. That’s fine in theory, posed one of our [...]

This week, we’re bringing you not one but two free workshops and webinars to boost your creative spirit and help you along on your writing projects. First, join us and Pan Macmillan at [...]

In December, Warner Bros releases Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. That bare announcement, long anticipated, was enough to get science fiction aficionados taking to social media in their thousands. Many [...]

Write your way out of this hellish year None of us has experienced a year as strange as this. So strange, in fact, that many of you have told us you felt creatively frozen. But the year is not [...]

This round our guest judge was Michele Rowe, an award-winning novelist (Hour of Darkness and What Hidden Lies) and screenwriter. Michele, along with Richard Beynon, runs our screenwriting [...]

Elmore Leonard famously said: Never start with the weather. “But does this mean I never, ever mention the weather at the beginning of my book?” one of our participants asked the other day. “What [...]

We’re delighted to be hosting a masterclass with Tony Park , bestselling author of 18 adventure thrillers set in southern Africa. Join us to learn more about the craft of writing. This [...]

It’s 8:17 on Friday morning. I’m sitting in our living room with the autumn sun streaming in, half blinding me. Through the sliding doors and the floor-to-ceiling windows I can see the rippling [...]

One of my earliest memories is spending hours at the dining room table, folding pieces of A4 paper in half, hamburger-style, and turning them into small books that I wrote and illustrated, [...]

How self-aware should your fictional characters be? It’s a decision that needs some consideration, since it’s part of your protagonist’s make-up and personality. There is no short answer either. [...]

Let’s think about a series of very tiny – but, some say, enormously significant – decisions that every writer has to take when beginning a story, and that is, what names should they give their [...]

This is a counter-intuitive piece of writing advice.  After all, you want to get your writing out there, I know that. You do want to be read, even if only by family and friends. But I believe the [...]