What to Do When Your Work-in-progress Isn’t Working

There comes a time in every writer’s life when you have to make a big decision about whether to give up on a piece of work or keep slogging on. […]
Six tips for finding great beta readers
So your mum read your magnum opus and she thinks it’s great. It’s time to go looking for an agent, right? Not so fast. Unless your mum is brutally honest, […]
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?
Why your first draft is actually a ZERO draft, and how to get prepped for the editing stage.
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 […]
5 Steps to Magically Whipping a Shitty First Draft 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 […]