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. […]
It probably goes without saying that many of us writers are a solitary bunch. We should, in theory, be experts on not leaving the house for a while. Once upon a time, social distancing may have been the ideal for many of us, but now it isolates and, in many cases, frustrates us. So, how […]
I love Fantasy it’s my favourite genre to read, but when it comes to writing, I find myself wanting to explore and write in a mixture of different genres. This makes it difficult as an author to choose only one preferred genre. Traditionally speaking, authors write in one main genre. John Green writes Young Adult […]
I’m no grammar expert, but once in a while there’s a battle on social media over the Oxford comma. The most recent argument I’ve seen has been over the wording on the new Brexit 50p. The Oxford comma is sometimes referred to as the Serial comma. According to the dictionary, it is a comma used […]