top of page

Video Lessons on Writing

Blog Posts on Writing

Editing your book _round two

Now if you have been following my steps you will have completed step 1. That means you have printed and marked up your entire manuscript...

How to improve your first draft (and second draft and 7th)

OK so this post is assuming that you have competed first draft of your book. It is going to take you through the next few steps that you...

How to write a smoking hot author blurb

A smoking author biography is an essential part of a book proposal. Writing a good one - that sums up your personality and book in a...

How do you find your writing voice?

How do you find your true voice when you write? I am so often asked this. It is hard to find what you genuinely feel is YOU. Our brains...

How do you find your writing voice?

How do you find your true voice when you write? I am so often asked this. It is hard to find what you genuinely feel is YOU. Our brains...

How often do you save?

Losing some work due to a computer glitch is a frustrating moment. Losing your entire book is a crushing event. Okay it wasn't an entire...

How often do you save?

Losing some work due to a computer glitch is a frustrating moment. Losing your entire book is a crushing event. Okay it wasn't an entire...

Are you making writing time?

I work with writers all over the world to help them get their books written and then published. And what is the one thing that published...

Are you making writing time?

I work with writers all over the world to help them get their books written and then published. And what is the one thing that published...

Who are the writers and who get published

Starting a book? That is the (relatively) easy bit. Keeping going is a bit harder. Who wants to sit alone in front of a keyboard while...

Who are the writers and who get published

Starting a book? That is the (relatively) easy bit. Keeping going is a bit harder. Who wants to sit alone in front of a keyboard while...

How to finish, not just start, writing your book

One of the most common complaints I always hear from writers is that they can’t 'find the time' to write. They may start their books but...

Writers are moving from novels to memoirs

I started the first writing course and agency ten years ago and focused only on novels. Almost all the writers who found me saw...

Should I plan or just write?

I get asked this so often. There is only one answer to this question (in my view). YES of course you should plan a book! I believe in...

How many books get sold in SA every year?

Ever wonder how many books get sold in SA every year? What SA publishing looks like from the inside? How many books the average South...

Should you write about yourself? And how?

When I started teaching writing over a decade ago I always used to tell writers NOT to write about themselves. This was in the interests...

Sending off your book- How many publishers should you approach?

Sending off a manuscript is terrifying. It is adrenalin inducing, heart-stopping stuff for any writer. But so many writers bail or fail...

What’s the theme of your story?

Your book needs a theme. A theme is closely aligned to your plot and often the words are used interchangably. I see them as different...

So, what is stopping you from writing your book?

So many writers get stuck at the very start. They simply cannot get off the starting block. Either they get stuck with the very idea of...

How to write for the young adult genre

Are there... in fact, writing and marketing tips specific to YA fiction. The elements of what makes a great story are the same across...

bottom of page