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Some advice and an exercise from Paul for 15-01-2021 Dialogue is good for expanding both character and plot Publishers often say novels need more if it! It draws the reader in and can move the action if the story along quickly Good dialogue is real… but not too real Listen to real conversations. It’s full of pauses and unfinished senrtances …

https://itsfoss.com/open-source-tools-writers lists some free “open source” tools to help authors be both creative and productive. They include character creation & analysis, an outlining tool for creating your novel, a specialist screenwriting tool, and distraction free writing tools as well as other software for markup, as well as either desktop and professional publishing. So if MS Word or LibreOffice are not …

by Paul D. Dressed in a puffa jacket that had seen better days the explorer watched the wildlife at the edge of the ice sheet. A waddling mass of penguins formed a colony near the rock face, with birds squawking, flapping or swarming together in organised chaos of feathers and maturing chicks. Between the nesting area and the sea they …

But at 7:30pm on Thursday 7th, we’re having an extra (online) session to support some updates on the website and specifically to gather more for the tips section, we’d like to feature what you think really matters. The Zoom Meeting Details Here is the meeting linkhttps://inscopix.zoom.us/j/99127668458?pwd=V3V1R3ZMVHZKejFhVmM2dVM1bUtGQT09 So could you bring along your favourite quote and your favourite tip on writing? With a …

by Alex Jones To the sound of a couple of tea cups clinking: “To absent friends!” “Indeed. How very thoughtful of you” “It is so long since we last saw Toni, I just thought we’d reminisce” “Good idea old chap” “Do you remember when she used to play with us? She was so….” “Delightful?” “Yes. Delightful” “So warm. So loving” …

by Sherree Cummings He shifted, sliding the cardboard further under his buttocks, a bit of grit poking him in the backside. The ground was freezing. He blew on his fingers trying to warm them but they were stubbornly refusing to thaw out. He had lost everything.  His home, his family, even the bloody flea ridden cat with its doses of …

We were all delighted to hear at our last Zoom meeting that Sue Wickstead had two of her children’s books shortlisted as finalists for the The Wishing Shelf Book Awards for 2019 and that ‘A Spooky Tale’ was awarded the silver medal in the the pre-school category. ‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus’ came out in print in 2014 and she followed …

An appreciation of SJ Perelman written by Gary Sutton 17.3.2020 Making a living as a writer is hard enough, but if you also want to be famous, youshould probably become a novelist or – at a stretch – a newspaper columnist. Ifyou happen to be a screenwriter or a magazine writer, fame will probably eludeyou – or it will be …

by Elaine Martini She had lost count of how many times she washed her hands today. It was difficult to know if it was all the anxiety or justified. She checked the time again. It was difficult to get used to this new routine. Time passed by quickly and slowly. Last month felt like last year. She heard somewhere that …

This will be our first online meeting! Looking forward to our on-screen meeting tomorrow, the 17th, at our usual time of 7:30 … here’s the link to zoom, courtesy of Fabrizio who is our host and inviting you all … with a few pointers below for those less used to what happens: (It should just work in a web browser …

by Laura Paton The rain falls like coins from a one-armed bandit. Jackpot, thinks Sam, as he watches the huge drops smacking onto the tarmac. Sheltering under the hotel’s awning, he removes a cigarette from a brand-new packet, jams it between his lips and lights it, flicking the match out into the storm. Taking a long drag, he steps forward …

by Fabrizio Sitzia The moons were already up in the sky, red as they usually become during the eclipse. That Eclipse, the one that covers like a mantle the five kingdoms every month. This time, the kings didn’t gather together to watch it or to give their offerings to the gods they feared in front of the priests. This time …