Which type of writer are you? The 'Planner' who outlines your story in detail before writing a single word? Or the 'Pantser' who may have a vague idea of what will happen but launches into the story on a voyage of discovery? There's no right or wrong to these methods,...

The gestation of my latest Work-in-Progress has been almost as long as an elephant's. (22 months if you're interested). Last night I finally completed its first draft and birthing the damn thing has been a painfully frustrating experience. But I'm a bloke, what would I...

I set up the British and Irish Writing Community at the beginning of 2019 so that we could offer support and encouragement to one another. The reaction has been incredible and full of energy - the development of the Bard of the Isles online magazine is an example.

Each...

I've spent the last few weeks reviewing my Work In Progress. It was time to pick up the red pen and pinpoint elements that it's so easy to overlook, those factors that can evade you but which come back to bite you viciously later on.

I decided to make a list of these o...

Is the act of writing hard-wired into our brains at birth? Or is it something we acquire throughout our lives? 

If you read the bio of most writers you find they talk about the 'need' to write. Something that is more than just an urge, it is nearer to being a compulsion...

I don't believe in astrology - but I do believe in its use in creating characters for your stories. I once used this idea as an English & Drama teacher, to give students a way in to defining a character and it always worked well. As a writer I now use the idea myself....

You know you’re in an urban fantasy novel when:

• The night has eyes (and they’re oval shaped and red)

• There’s a doorway to another world and it’s covered in ivy

• The stranger refers to cars as metal boxes with wheels

• Drains and gutters offer lots of rea...

Is stress bothering you? Is it getting you down? When you hear these words, it's usually followed by someone telling you to take some form of medication, or to relax - because that would never have occurred to you!

But what if that stress is actually a good

So what's ha...

OK. I admit it. I'm a "Pantser". 

Rather than plan what happens in my stories, I let them evolve. Like the way dinosaurs turned into birds I suppose.

It's writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. I think that's why it's exciting. You never know where events are going to take y...

If you’re screaming “Yes, it is!” at my question, then you’re on my wavelength. I’ve felt crippled by it recently. I’ve read a string of outstanding novels lately and each one has made me realise what a lousy writer I am.

To be anecdotal for a moment, I reviewed Steven...