Writing advice and short stories

Advice and comment on writing and some examples

This is where we share presentations from the writing group on all aspects of writing, from ideas to publication and everything in between. We also include some fiction writing as we try to put our advice into action.

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…
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…
Writing advice blog: Dialogue – learning from the best

Susie Helme and Elaine Graham-Leigh Last week, we looked at some tips for how to write great dialogue. Now we’ll see how they can be put into practice with some examples from literature from 1813 to 2020. Literary style and conventions change over time, but the need for great dialogue remains the same. Pride andContinue…
Writing advice blog: Writing great dialogue

Susie Helme Dialogue is crucial to make your plot and characters come alive, but how do you get it right? See some of my top tips for effective dialogue below, then next week, Elaine and I will be analysing some of our favourite bits of dialogue to see how they work. Tips for writing greatContinue…
Writing advice blog: Padding

Susie Helme I have edited or reviewed so many novels that feature a lot of ‘padding’. As a trained journalist, I’ve been schooled to cut out as much of that as possible (though I still err). You want: Who, What, When, and Where, and maybe How and Why. Then you need to stop. If you’reContinue…
Writing advice blog: the basic concept

Susie Helme The most important aspect of a novel is the Basic Concept, your novel’s Unique Selling Point. It’s a marketing tool; this is where you sell your novel. You gotta have a good idea. If the idea isn’t good enough, you could either waste years of your life writing something that never sees theContinue…