There’s no question that Harry Potter is a worldwide commercial success on paper and on film, and an inspiration for thousands of writers around the world. J.K. Rowling’s struggles with publication are often-talked about by writers, but what few really discuss is her outlining technique, and in this blog post, I delve into the method behind her magical madness, and…
Category: Writing Tips
Where I share tips and tricks for fellow prospective writers, from famous sources and from the community itself.
The Three Stages of Editing
Let’s be honest – your book is going to spend far longer in the ‘editing’ stage than the ‘drafting’ stage. The blank page might be daunting, and spending hours deliberating over outlines or character sheets might feel like the most agonizing part of crafting a manuscript, but the sheer reality is that editing, in all…
5 Lies Writers Tell Themselves
Let’s be honest – writing is hard. Sometimes just summoning the energy to sit down and write even a few hundred words feels like the hardest thing in the world – half the battle is fought between the fridge and the desk (but seriously, chocolate is definitely what I needed to conquer this blog post)….
Three Simple Questions to Tackle that ‘Stuck’ Scene
Recently, I gave some advice to a fellow writer and blogger who was stuck on a particular scene in her novel. We’re often prone to random bursts of writer’s block, miniature in size but crippling in nature, where we run into a brick wall at a scene and cannot see a way out. I’m here…
What Publishing a Novel has Taught Me About Writing
If you’ve been following me on Twitter and/or Goodreads, you might’ve heard about my debut Sci-Fi novel, The Bureau of Time – and if you haven’t, well, it’s my first published novel and responsible for many late nights over the last year. It’s now available on Amazon and Kobo, thanks to independent digital publisher, Fontaine….
Blog Swap: How Movies and Television Can Inspire and Improve Your Writing
The Blog Swap is exactly what it sounds like: friends Brett Michael Orr and Rae Oestreich had the idea to guest-post on eachothers’ blogs, with an added twist. Each month they’ll write a guest post based on a topic the other has assigned to them - anything from writing advice, to book discussions, or even…
The Best of Australian Fiction
I spend a lot of time reading and writing American fiction, but my home country of Australia produces dozens of new readers and writers every year in the genres of contemporary and commercial fiction. There are some amazing local novels just waiting to be discovered, so I turned to my fellow Australian Bloggers to unearth…
What Is Classical Literature?
A few weeks ago, I asked the question, What Is Young Adult, because it’s my favorite genre to read and write. In the comments, Ally R (@scribble_sprite) suggested ‘What is Classical Literature’ as the next step in the ‘What Is’ series, so I enlisted the help of my good friend – and classics aficionado –…
Blog Swap: Editing Tips and Tricks – From Draft to Final Version
The Blog Swap is exactly what it sounds like: friends Brett Michael Orr and Rae Oestreich had the idea to guest-post on eachothers’ blogs, with an added twist. Each month they’ll write a guest post based on a topic the other has assigned to them - anything from writing advice, to book discussions, or even…
Heroines in YA Novels
Young Adult is a booming genre in the literary world, an unstoppable juggernaut that refuses to back down. A few weeks ago I discussed What YA novels are, and part of their success is easily attributed to the way YA novels tear down societal and cultural preconceptions. YA’s most distinctive feature – aside from its targeted…
Brett Michael Orr 