Free Writing Tips and Expert Advice

By Taryn Hochstrasser During my last year of high school, I wrote an essay picked from one of the given topics. I don’t really remember

By AIMAN SHAHID   Take a wound as a starting point; it doesn’t need to be a dramatic blood-splattered Monty Pythonesque affair. It can even

  I have always been highly susceptible to anything that promised I could become a writer. I believed in magical notebooks, charmed pens, lucky knickers,

When I was a child, I understood grief because I’d had an elephant cookie jar on my shelf that was missing a lid. I’d watched

By CARTER LAPPIN You’re on a bus, about to head up the side of a winding mountain road. You’re trying to get comfortable in your

BEST WRITING ADVICE: GET A HOBBY The lettuce wilted. The basil died as soon as it flourished, and the oregano never sprouted in the first

By Helen Aitchison Our lives are riddled with self-doubt. Some more than others. We worry, analyse and focus on the negative. ‘I can’t do it!’

‘What’s Your Favourite Popsicle?’ By Archanaa I stared at the red circle on my calendar. I had three weeks to submit my short story. The

By KIRSTY MAC DOUGALL ‘Trust in the writing process.’ ‘Trust in your innate and untapped writing abilities.’ ‘Trust in yourself.’ Great advice. Tony Robbins would

By Tarumbidzwa Chirume I was 15 when my English teacher, Mrs Williams, told me to commit murder.  It was Speech Day, and we all had

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” This piece of wisdom came from an American baseball player long deceased.

By Kathleen Marple Kalb Rejection is bad, but the fear of it is worse. Too many good writers are afraid to put their work out

By Baks Wa Muthamia English is neither my first nor my second nor my third language. It comes in at a distant fourth! But I loved

By Sujana Vangala For years, I lived in a space of hesitancy, in Plan B’s and safety nets. In the same way, my writing survived

By SARAH DITTMORE “It’s a great story,” my teacher acquiesced. I beamed with the smile of an over-achiever receiving the much longed-for validation of a

By NEELESH RATHI You shouldn’t be afraid of writing garbage—or of other people seeing it. But, what if it’s not garbage? What if it’s not

By ETHAN ALEXANDER    I was never the popular kid in high school. In fact, I was mostly ignored. I had just transferred to a

By Sufia Aleia For a story to exist, it must have characters. For characters to exist, they must be given life. After all, lifeless, inanimate