You may have heard of and seen a bullet journal by now, but just in case you haven’t…. ‘A bullet journal is a method of personal organization developed by designer Ryder Carroll. The system organizes scheduling, reminders, to-do lists, brainstorming, and other organizational tasks into a single notebook.’ Bullet journals have grown in popularity over […]
Whether you’re writing a short story or a full novel, the first page of your book is your most important page. It is your first chance, besides your blurb, to hook your reader’s interest. You have got to make it count and you have to make it flow. In a few short lines you have […]
Every now and then, I judge a small writing competition on a writing Facebook group. Despite the relatively small size of the group, the volume of entries are often pretty high! I have had the opportunity to read a lot of great prose and I have learned a lot by sitting in the judge’s chair. […]
Let’s go back in time, before The Cursed Child was released and before Fantastic Beasts, back to 2007 when the last Harry Potter book came out. Some Harry Potter fans may even wish we could go back to 2007 and stay there forever. Now before I start, I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series and […]
Back in March I had the opportunity to launch my debut novel Folked Up with the assistance of the Centre for Childhood Cultures at Queen Mary University of London. Part of this involved running a creative writing workshop based around world building for YA audiences, where we discussed some of the things to bear in […]
It is true that I struggle at the moment to be totally engrossed by new novels. I don’t know whether it’s my lack of motivation or because as a writer, I have a tendency to critically analyse everything I read. I was both surprised and relieved when I came across a novel that I just […]
The Diary Of A Young Writer has officially reached 100 blogs! It feels like a big birthday, and to celebrate, I thought I would share with you what I have learnt so far… I can say with absolute certainty that your first attempt at writing a novel is going to suck. Sorry, but it’s true. […]
I read recently about an author who gave advice to a young student on how to write a story. I can’t remember the link, but this particular author said something along the lines of; ‘forget what they teach you at school about writing a story, and instead ask yourself three questions…’ Who is the main […]
A lot of people have been furloughed or have been put on reduced hours due to the coronavirus pandemic. High Streets have closed and many businesses are relying on government pay-outs and online sales. This includes your local, independent bookshops. With more time on our hands and less access to the outside world you may […]
Earlier this year I bought a copy of ‘The Terry Pratchett Diary’. It contains quotes from the Discworld novels and tributes from renowned authors such as Neil Gaiman and A.S. Byatt. It also contains 366 empty boxes (leap year included), for you to write a small paragraph, or a line or two about your day. […]