Tag Archives: Susie Helme

Historical fiction: Bringing the past to life, seeing the world through your protagonist’s eyes

‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ So said Lao Tzu 1450 years ago, and the experience of every novelist since then has illustrated it.

Writing advice blog: compelling flash fiction

Susie Helme Flash fiction is a genre of fiction which is short and quick. It is defined as a very short story of under 500 words (or whatever wordcount is specified) which encapsulates an entire story. It is not just a scene, but rather is structured, with a beginning, middle and end, and it hasContinue reading “Writing advice blog: compelling flash fiction”

Writing advice blog: Examples of suspense analysed

Susie Helme and Elaine Graham-Leigh In the last post, Susie Helme talked about techniques for building suspense in your writing. In this post, we’re taking a look at how it can be done in practice, by analysing some examples from our favourite authors. Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House Inside, the music thumped and wailed, the heatContinue reading “Writing advice blog: Examples of suspense analysed”

Writing advice blog: Writing suspense

Susie Helme The art of writing suspense is all about building the reader’s expectation and then at some later point, either hitting them with it with a bang, or twisting it and hitting them with something they weren’t expecting. This can stimulate a pleasurable dopamine rush, so that your readers enjoy reading your novel. MysteriesContinue reading “Writing advice blog: Writing suspense”

Writing advice blog: One hundred wonderful metaphors

Susie Helme Susie shares her favourite metaphors from literature and film. Which will inspire you to craft some wonderful metaphors of your own? shuddered as if something multi-legged and primal had stalked across his spine[1] a man of low birth whom Providence has thrown like dice[2] feels the soft, warm parts of herself being removedContinue reading “Writing advice blog: One hundred wonderful metaphors”

Writing advice blog: Editorialising and qualifiers

Susie Helme When I worked as a journalist, we were taught never to Editorialise (express personal opinions or feelings). Our readers want to know Who, What, When, Where and How. They don’t care about what I think or feel about it. If I was lucky and they liked the piece, they’d look at my bylineContinue reading “Writing advice blog: Editorialising and qualifiers”

Writing advice blog: Writing wondeful metaphors

Susie Helme A metaphor is a literary device, a comparison between two dissimilar things, using descriptive or figurative language, for rhetorical effect. Metaphors are a great way to add colour to your descriptions and spice up your writing. By using symbolism, they tell us more about the subject than a literal description. They create aContinue reading “Writing advice blog: Writing wondeful metaphors”

Writing advice blog: Second person point of view

Susie Helme The second person could be the most difficult point of view to use in a novel because it ‘can feel trite or gimmicky’, requiring a Voice which is ‘hard to sustain for the length of a novel’.[1] It’s a very effective point of view (POV) to use in how-to nonfiction, of course, asContinue reading “Writing advice blog: Second person point of view”

Writing advice blog: Zooming in, zooming out

Susie Helme The Reedsy blog How to Write a Closer (or More Distant) Point of View, is all about psychic or narrative distance, where the narrative (and therefore the reader) stands in relation to the character. I was intrigued by the statement: ‘The furthest you’re going to go in terms of Point of View isContinue reading “Writing advice blog: Zooming in, zooming out”