What To Do With A First Draft
Whether you’ve just smashed NaNoWriMo in record time, or have been slogging out this novel for a decade, reaching the end of a first draft is a huge great…
Fuck The Capitalist Machine: Fill the World With Words
Oh hey. Feeling the capitalist ennui? Yeah. Us too. Want to do something bookish and lovely and literary that helps to save the world instead of throwing cash at…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – December 2019
DECEMBER! One more month of 2020. Homg. Better get some writing out into the world super double quick. Yes, we know you’re busy panicking about Christmas. Yes, we know you’d…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – November 2019
November. The liminal stretch between Halloween and Christmas in which we’d all much rather be sleeping under a pile of leaves until the clocks change again. BUT THERE’S NO TIME…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – October 2019
Unleash the spoopy skellingtons and throw a pumpkin at someone – October is here and the time for hibernation-based-writing is NOW. The changing of the seasons may be a psychologically…
Pep & Prompt #12: Toot Your Writing Horn
Where does your writing sit in the larger context of you and the world? Big questions! Come find out…
WRITING EXERCISE: Endurance
To finish any writing project, endurance is the key ingredient. Endurance through the discovery of a first draft. Endurance through the repetitious slog of editing. Endurance through self doubt, imposter…
WRITING HACK: Harvesting Kids’ Ideas
Writing is theft. We steal mannerisms and snippets of dialogue and memories and life experiences all the time. It’s what we DO. And you know where the very richest seam…
WRITING EXERCISE: Walk it out
We’re going on a story hunt… It’s summertime. Forget about the housework. Slap on some suncream, stick on your stomping shoes and let’s get out of here. Today’s task is…
Get in the writing ZONE
Ahhh ‘the zone’. That mystical plane of existence in which the words flow and inspiration is channeled directly into our brains and we become mere vessels for unbounded creativity and…
Pep & Prompt #9: Pick An Emotion, Any Emotion…
Have a bit of pep, do a lil’ prompt, then come and let us know how you get on in our community writing forums… Hey there, personface. Today we’re…
WRITING EXERCISE: Location, location, location
The ability to transport yourself into a fictional location is pretty vital for a writer. But it ain’t easy. Describing imaginary places and spaces so a reader can vividly visualise…
Writing Lessons From Groundhog Day
Well hey there. Who’s ready for some tough talk about how setting yourself up for failure can be one of the most helpful approaches to writing? Yes! Failure! One of…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – September 2019
September is upon us (how the everliving fuuuuu…?) – it’s a new academic year, the last quarter of 2019 (like, whuuuu?), and the perfect time to get a hold of…
Deconstruct Your Summer Read
Hey. Watcha readin’ this summer? Something light and fluffy or something deep and meaningful or a mix of both? Something you’ve read a zillion times before? Something someone recommended to…
The Story Genius of Moana
If you’ve got (or have ever had) small children in the house, it’s likely you’ve watched and re-watched your fair share of animated movies, possibly to the point where you…
How to Write in 30 Second Bursts
No time, no motivation, no muse, no brain, no writing, blahhhhh mehhhh ughhhh etc. Fuck that. None of us have time. Motivation is self-propellant. The muse is a slippery bitch.…
WRITING EXERCISE: Overheard Voices
Dialogue! One writer’s bane, another’s best friend. Some characters are naturally chatty while others find it hard to string a sentence together. And do they always say what they actually…
Pep & Prompt #8: Make A Book Cover
Today’s Pep & Prompt is ripped straight from our super productive (no, really) mini course: Seven Ideas in Seven Days! Have a bit of pep, do a lil’ prompt, then…
Turn A Day Out Into A Story
This one goes out to all my parental homies wrangling ankle-biters and grouchy tweens and hyperactive screen-addicted little womb-fruits over the summer holidays (and, like every day). Chances are HIGH…
Mindful Writing (without the wafty bits)
Let’s start with a little disclaimer, shall we? Although we all love a bit of yoga and nature and witchiness at WHQ, we’re not exactly the most mindful bunch. We’re…
Pep & Prompt #7: Switch the POV
A brief pep, a brief prompt, then come and chat to us on our community forums for feedback and chat. Howsabout a little light psychology to fuel your writing brain…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – August 2019
August, you great big glorious beast, why do you tempt us with your summery wiles when we should be locked away in the darkness, crafting fictional worlds and torturing our…
WHQ Flash Quarterly Round 2: THE WINNERS!
Holy flapping melonballs. It’s time to reveal the TOP THREE stories in Round 2 of our Flash Quarterly contest. The WHQ judges have deliberated and conferred and got all…
WHQ Flash Quarterly Round 2: THE SHORTLIST!
It’s that time again. Time to reveal the top stories from Round 2 of our Flash Quarterly competition. Er. Mer. Gerd. We had over 300 submissions to our wee…
Pep & Prompt #6: How To Maximise Your Writing Time
A brief pep, a brief prompt, then come and chat to us on our community forums for feedback and chat. A wise person once said something like: “One of the…
Pep & Prompt #5: What’s the point?
A brief pep, a brief prompt, then come and chat to us on our community forums for feedback and chat. Another rejection came rolling into my inbox this morning. <le…
Break Through the (Writing) Blockage
Frustrated af with your writing? Stuck? Hit a wall? Feeling totally meh about the whole thing? Looking for a way out of the world of sticky writing blockages? (ew) Ok, how’s…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – July 2019
Goshdarn it, half the year has zipped by like a Thanos snap and what do we have to show for it? A whole bunch of unfinished stories and discarded good…
Troubleshoot Your Writing: Why Are You Stuck?
Fear not the stickage. Everyone hits a sticking point in their writing at some point. Hitting a sticking point does not = failure. Going through a writing drought does not…
WRITING EXERCISE: Let’s get subversive
Okay, let’s be honest. We’ve all started writing a character only to realise that we’ve inadvertently borrowed traits from well-known, well-worn stereotypes or tropes. In most cases, it’s down to…
Pep & Prompt #4: How Do I Create An Unsettling Atmosphere In My Story?
A brief pep, a brief prompt, then go post your work on our community forums for feedback and chat. How do you create an unsettling atmosphere in your writing? As…
Get Excited About Your Writing Again
Look, we get it. This writing thing can be exhausting, right? Forging through a first draft can often feel a bit like wading through treacle. Editing the living heck out…
WRITING EXERCISE: No regerts
<LE SIGH> Where does the time go? All those things you planned on doing (like writing your novel – natch), all those things you wish you’d appreciated, all those things…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – June 2019
June is upon us! The midpoint of the year! Bring on the summer (or winter, if you’re in the southern hemisphere) solstice! Buckle down to some writing and make the…
WHQ Flash Quarterly Round 1: THE WINNERS!
… DRUMROLL PLEASE… The time has come to reveal the TOP THREE in Round 1 of our Flash Quarterly contest. The WHQ inner sanctum is finally in agreement. And we…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – May 2019
May the (submitting) force be with you, young padawans. Have you jumped on our #Submit2019 bandwagon yet? The premise is simple: just aim to submit at least one more piece…
WHQ Flash Quarterly Round 1: THE SHORTLIST!
It’s time. <heavy breathing> Round 1 of our Flash Quarterly competition is over. We’ve read and re-read and re-re-read over 400 entries from almost as many writers. We have…
The Writers’ HQ Wall of Fame: April 2019 Edition
We’re a quarter of the way through 2019 and it’s hiiiiigh time for another Wall of Fame to showcase all the seriously impressive achievements of our resident WHQers, because…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – April 2019
It’s April, you fools! A quarter into the literary year! And what have you done so far? Have you been taking part in our #Submit2019 challenge? Do you even sub,…
WRITING EXERCISE: Start at the end
Here’s a quick ‘n’ dirty game to spark off a brand new story idea: 1) Grab a novel from your bookshelf 2) Flip to the very last page 3) Copy…
Storycraft #6: Ramping Up The Action In Literary Fiction
AKA adventure time for lit fic AKA how conflict doesn’t have to be all FIGHTING AND EXPLOSIONS! Here’s a question we get a lot: “I’m writing literary fiction and nothing…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – March 2019
Hark, what spring-like sunshine through yonder window breaks? Quick, before the climate apocalypse descends, write something worth publishing and send it out into the world! Join us in our #Submit2019…
Storycraft #5: Sowing Story Seeds
You know when you read an amaaaazing novel and you think: “Gosh, that’s so clever the way the author interweaved all those little clues and hints together, dropping breadcrumbs all the…
The Writers’ HQ Wall of Fame: January 2019 Edition
Holy balls, the first month of 2019 is almost over and it’s hiiiiigh time we checked in and showcased the many amazing achievements of our students and members. Heckity yeah.…
Storycraft #3: The Magic Of Scene Summaries
Saddle up, novelleers, ’cause today we’re gonna talk about how to make the whole ‘writing 70,000+ words of coherent narrative thang‘ feel a leeetle bit less like conquering Everest…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – February 2019
Ahhh February – the quick ‘n’ dirty month that’s over before it’s really begun. That’s only 28 days to make the best of your #Submit2019 plans and send out your…
From LGBTQ+ With Love: THE WINNERS!
Drumroll please… After much deliberation, much love, and much excited squeeing, we have in our hands the winning stories from our Fight Back Flash Competition… Gird your goshdarn loins –…
WRITING EXERCISE: Forbidden words
For today’s exercise, writing is hereby FORBIDDEN. Wait, what? Only kidding. But what would you do if fiction was illegal? What would you do if you were no longer allowed to…
From LGBTQ+ With Love: THE SHORTLIST!
You guys. We have a shortlist. Ten amazing LGBTQ+ stories, chosen by our illustrious judges Kirsty Logan and Paul McVeigh, from which the final 4 will be hand-plucked verrrrry soon……
Storycraft #4: Suplots Ahoy
Wait a second… Dealing with the main plot is a big enough pain in the arse, and now we have to worry about subplots, too?! Uh huh, pull up your…
From LGBTQ+ With Love – THE LONGLIST!
Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you to all the writers who submitted to our LGBTQ+ Fight Back Flash Competition. We had over 300 entries, raised £277.37 for MindOut,…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – January 2019
January. How very dare you. 2019 is upon us and some brand new deadlines are fast approaching… TIME FOR A BRAND NEW LISTINGS BLOG, WOOOOO! Join us in our #Submit2019…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – December 2018
December! OMG. Christmas. Winter. Arg. Where the hell did this year go? If you’ve taken part in our 100 Submissions in 2018 challenge, this is the final hurdle! But it really…
Jonathan Franzen’s 10 ‘Rules’ For Writing – FIXED
Who could have predicted Franzen’s list of ‘rules’ would be a selection of oblique, restrictive and condescending laws on how to be a literary success?
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – November 2018
November creeps in, slipping its cold hand into yours, whispering of the darkness to come… In the brief liminal space between Halloween and Christmas it’s time to wrap up warm,…
If Women Wrote About Their Bodies The Way Men Write About Women’s Bodies
Lads. Lads. LADS. You know what we’re talking about. And yeah, #NotAllMen yada yada yada, but #YesSomeMen. Some published men. Some men who seem to think we spend our entire…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – October 2018
All hail Octember, the month of oversized hoodies and soup and pumpkin spice skellington armies. Prepare for hibernation with a story or two, commit to submitting your work to at least…
Storycraft #2: Narrative Voice
No matter how good your premise, how twisty your plot, how loveable your characters, if you don’t nail that narrative voice, you won’t do your story justice. You know when…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – September 2018
September is upon us! Autumn approaches! A new academic term begins! So ring in the changes, start something new, and make a fresh commitment to submit a story or two (or…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – August 2018
August ahoy! Time to kick back for summer and invest in some serious writing time (y’know, in between swanning off on your holibobs and wrangling the kids etc). Get your…
WRITING EXERCISE: On The First Day
Saddle up, peeplets, it’s time for a fresh start. Here’s a quick ‘n’ easy writing exercise to spark off some new ideas. It’s about as simple as you can get…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – July 2018
July, you glorious sunny bastard, we’ve been waiting for you to show your summery face. But there’s no time to sit and enjoy the weather – we have WRITING to…
The Dos and Don’ts of Internal Monologuing
Look, there’s a time and place for monologuing. Most of the time we’d say err on the side of LESS, but there are moments when your protagonist really needs to…
Write Yourself Into a Pit (Then Dig Your Way Out Again)
No matter how much you plan, outline, and prepare to write, there are gonna be times when your writing ends up going off-piste in a potentially catastrophic direction – one you’re…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – June 2018
Ermmm, we’re half way through the year already (how? HOW?), so if you want to make a real difference to your writing in 2018 it’s time to send your writing…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – May 2018
Summer’s on the horizon, sun is shining – it’s the perfect time to shut yourself away in a dark room and get writing. Join us in our quest to send…
How Not To Write A Novel #2
Uggghhh so it turns out writing a novel is, like, super freakin’ hard? And, like, you actually spend a massive proportion of your writing time, like, NOT writing? Right? Well,…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – April 2018
More opportunities to get your fiction published than you can shake a pen at, and then some.
10 Ways to Write Like a Kid
Over the last five years we’ve run hundreds of writing workshops for both adults and kids. The adult ones tend to be a lot more sweary and the kids’ ones…
Shiny Thing Syndrome: A Writer’s Malady
In the spirit of our ‘Beginnings‘ series, Jo Gatford tackles an all-too-familiar complaint of the garden-variety writer – when the grass is always greener… We’re here today to talk about…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – March 2018
Spring is sproinging – ’tis the season of renewal and rebirth and all that jazz. So kick off the month of March with some shiny new story submissions. Join us…
Don’t Fear The Blank Page! How To Start Writing and Stay Writing
As part of our Beginnings series, we answer a frequently-screamed-question (FSQ) from our writing community – where the heck do you even begin? So. You have an idea for a…
Writing Competitions & Opportunities – February 2018
In the spirit of our ‘Beginnings‘ blog series, here’s a great excuse to start a new story, kick off a new submission routine, and begin your publishing journey… One month…
WRITING EXERCISE: The moment you walked into the room…
Who fancies a wee characterisation exercise? Whether you’re making up a totally brand new fictional person, or developing a cast member from an existing work-in-progress, this exercise is a quick…
How To Cope With Rejection
In the latest instalment of our Fear & Failure series, here’s a little treatise on REJECTION and how ‘no’ does NOT mean ‘you’re a terrible writer, you might as well…
Why We Find Writing So Scary (And Why That’s A Good Thing)
In keeping with our Fear & Failure series, let’s have a lil’ chat about the overwhelming terror of writing and how to get over it… What? I’m not scared of…
What to do when your work-in-progress isn’t working
As part of our Fear & Failure series, it’s time to talk about giving up… Or not giving up. Or thinking about giving up. Anywho, here’s Jo Gatford on what…
The Different Types of Writing Rejection (and how to deal with ’em)
Next up in our Fear & Failure series – how every rejection presents a unique opportunity to pull your gosh-darned socks up and TRY AGAIN (instead of wallowing in a…
Writing Competitions and Opportunities – January 2018
Feeling a bit ‘meh’ about your writing after the cheese-filled ennui of Christmas? Kick off the new year with a BOATLOAD of literary submissions*. (Or even take part in our…
100 Submissions in 2018
To celebrate our Fear & Failure series, let’s all make a great big commitment to REJECTION and make story submission a weekly habit… What’s this? What’s this? YOU WANT US…
The 7 Stages of Literary Submission
Stage 1: Nausea Clamp your lips tight, clench your buttocks, and click the ‘send’ button while your stomach tries to escape through your throat and your guts play Cat’s Cradle.…
Editing a novel: Redrafting vs ‘surface editing’
If you haven’t already read our editing blog ‘What the Frick is a Zero Draft?’ then go and do that now. If you’ve already read it, excellent. Let us continue…
Editing a novel: What the frick is a zero draft?
First things first: if you’re here because you’ve finished your first draft and are venturing into the big bad world of editing… HUGE FUCKING CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! No really, take a…
So you want to write a novel, huh? The casting call
Plot is character; character is plot and so on and round and round we go to infinity. Also, you know, you’re not Amit Chaudhuri, you can’t have an entire book…
So you want to write a novel, huh? What’s the BIG IDEA?
Writing 101: Before you can write, you need to have an idea. That much we know. Your idea – your starting point – can be anything: a character, a theme,…
So you want to write a novel, huh? This is why you need a PLAN…
So. Welcome. Here we are at the very beginning. You’re going to write a novel. Cool, huh? Over the course of the next few blog posts, we’re going to help…
WRITING EXERCISE: Increments of a Story
Where do story ideas come from? And how do you grab hold of those raw ideas and turn them into something more.. story-ish? How come some people are able to…
Writing about S-E-X (omg Mum please don’t read this)
Hi. Uh. How’s it going? Cool. So. You wanna pay attention for a second ’cause we need to have a chat. No you’ve not done anything wrong. It’s just, you…
Beware the overused novel opening…
If you’ve already read our blog on How to Write a Kickass Opening Chapter then you’ll know it should be full of intrigue and engaging characters and conflict and all…
Elements of a KICKASS opening chapter
The opening chapter of your book is what makes or breaks it. The rest of the story might be solid gold but if a reader or an agent gives up…
Competition Announcement: The Long & The Short Of It
Look! Look! Our competition long- and shortlist are here! Run down the hall like teens in a school-based American sitcom to see if your name’s pinned the the noticeboard! Punch the…
Writing Decongestant: 10 ways to unblock your writer’s block
So here’s a thing you should know: writer’s block doesn’t really exist. That’s not to say you won’t experience agonising periods of writing difficulty, but the moment you start thinking of yourself as ‘blocked’,…
5 steps to magically whipping a shitty first draft novel into shape
It’s a beautifully crafted literary masterpiece in your head, but miserable on paper. So how do you get from ‘pile of words’ to ‘book-shaped thing’ without going utterly and entirely…
