05 Aug 10 Ways to finish a story
So many writers don’t succeed because they don’t finish stories. Don’t be one of them. As a journalist I’m used to deadlines. If I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t always finish...
Blog
31 Jul Make your writing a discovery
I’m lucky enough to be writing to you from Byron Bay today. I’m here for the Writers’ Festival and sitting in a café playing John Lennon’s Imagine. Yesterday I saw a...
23 Jul Believe in your story
Who’s going to be interested in the story of my life? Who cares? I hear that a lot from aspiring writers. Novelists think their stories are clichéd, another Harry Potter, another...
15 Jul Visualise your book
When I was writing and re-writing my travel memoir Last Seen in Lhasa, the author Patrick French gave me some advice. 'Go into a bookshop and visualise your book on the...
01 Jul 10 ways to sharpen your scenes
Scenes are what make writing visual. They create a moment-by-moment experience for the reader. Here are 10 ways to make yours work harder. Follow the screenwriter’s mantra: arrive late and leave...
03 Jun Empowering writers to keep writing
It’s always sobering when I meet a well-known journalist who once earned a decent salary tell me he’s really struggling. For many in the field, regular writing gigs have dried...
22 May How to work the writers’ festival circuit
It’s literary festival season again. At the same time as Sydney Writers' Festival opens, Hay-on-Wye – UK’s biggest gathering of writers – kicks off. Yesterday I heard Alice Walker talk about...
14 May How to build a world for your story
How believable is the world of your characters? How can you make it feel more real? © paulbriden This week I’ve been thinking about world building in preparation for my new two-day...
26 Mar Finding your personal style
You can teach a lot about the craft of writing but style is very personal. It comes through practice. It’s about getting familiar enough with words, the rhythm of how...
18 Mar How to create three-dimensional characters
We read because we want to feel what it’s like to be another person and experience another reality. We watch films for the same reason. When a movie or a...