Your Stories About Writing
Your Stories
Face Challenges, Take Risks and Write About Them
BY ROBERT B. ROBESON If I’d wanted an easy life, I could have taken up quantum physics, brain surgery or attempted to open a McDonald’s
Best Writing Tip: Just Get On With It
BY SIOBHAN MURPHY Writing. It’s hard. Everyone who writes has been told this more times than the word count of The Lord of the Rings.
Best Writing Advice: Allow All the Parts of Your Life in Your Writing
Spiegel im Spiegel BY PETRA HILGERS Mirror pieces have their own way of travelling into people’s hearts, as I know from Die Schneekönigin. Mine found me, fortunately
Best Writing Advice: Show Me
BY KRISTIN HOYT My numb, icy fingers grasp the frozen metal handle. Whoosh! A burst of warmth wraps around me like a familiar hug as
The Best Writing Tip: Cut with a Razor
BY AMELIA RAY Don’t ask me where but once I read that Keith Richards reportedly has a unique songwriting approach. Supposedly, he writes down every
My Mother-In-Law could be an Orc
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
The Only Failing is Never Trying!
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!’
Best Writing Advice: Don’t Write It, Be It
By Chase D. Cartwright That’s it. That’s the best advice I can give. Don’t write it, be it. Don’t live your life to become a
Best Writing Advice: Simplicity is Key
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
Your Scraps Will Be Your Treasure Later
By Laura Borjas There is a challenge every writer goes through – one might call it a ‘rite of passage’ – where you smear your
Best Writing Advice: Embrace Your Craft Completely
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
Best Writing Advice: Aim for Rejections
By Dorotea Saputo The best writing advice I’ve ever received came from my grandfather who bragged about never having read a book in his life.
How to Stick to Your Story
By Triyasha De ‘The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.’
Remember the Reason Why You Write
By Elouwdi Smit The first piece of advice I received about writing was to have fun! Don’t be serious – just enjoy it. I will
Best Writing Advice: Give Your Characters Life
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
Best Writing Tip: How to Get Away with ‘Murder’
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
Best Writing Advice: It’s Skills, Not Genre, That Determines Writing Success
‘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
Best Writing Tip I’ve Ever Received: ‘Don’t Value Your Time’
by Luciana Patri ‘Wanna be successful? Don’t value your time.’ – read the daring title of a video by Teal Swan, one of my favourite
Advice for Writers: Rejection is Just a ‘No’
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
Best Writing Advice: Write About Things You Can Drop
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
How to Overcome Self-Doubt as a Writer
Here are some tips on kicking your inner critic out the door, so you can get back to doing what you love most, writing. As
Self-help 101: Build Trust in One Easy Step
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
What Memories Don’t Convey
By DAMON CROCKER He moved the bodies of the fallen soldiers to a central location. No, that’s not right, I thought as I violently hit
Pretend You Know What You’re Doing
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
Just Hit Send
By AMY MULLIS The Enter key is a dragon with sharp claws and teeth that drip the blood of those who dared to trespass. It
The Best Writing Advice: You Can Break the Rules If You Have a Good Reason For It
By ETHAN ALEXANDER I was never the popular kid in high school. In fact, I was mostly ignored. I had just transferred to a
Perfidious Passion: Why You Should Bleed Out For Your Writing Instead
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
Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?
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
Playwriting 101
By EWING EUGENE BALDWIN I had ruined my voice touring for three years in a bus and truck company of Jesus Christ Superstar. I had
Even Art Should Be Taken Seriously
By JAVI REDDY There is a notion held by non-artistic people that creatives sit around half-nude for most of their days, stewing in their emotions,
We Write from Our Scars
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
Best Writing Advice: Get a Hobby
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
Writing Is a Game for Optimists
“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.
Best Writing Tip: Don’t Wait for The Muse
I have always been highly susceptible to anything that promised I could become a writer. I believed in magical notebooks, charmed pens, lucky knickers,
Write the Stories You've Always Wanted to Write
Creative Writing Tips and Tools
What Makes You Think You Can Write?
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Children’s Book Questions
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How to Find Time for Creative Writing
Perhaps a better phrase would be, ‘How to MAKE time for creative writing’. Here are a few tips on how to do that. Many
Write First, Revise Later
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The Best Apps and Tools for Writers
Writers today have it easier than writers of yesteryear. Gone are the days when you head to the library if you need to do research.
For Successful Fiction, Add Conflict — Twice
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How To Keep Your Point Of View Consistent
Every story is told from a particular point of view. It is the reader’s way “in,” enabling them to experience the world they are reading about. When the point of view shifts without warning, it takes the reader out of the action. Not only does it disrupt their experience, but it can confuse them about what is taking place in your story.
Let’s take a look at what point of view is, and how to avoid the common point of view mistakes beginner fiction writers make.
Student Successes
Writing Advice
How To Achieve Your Writing Goals
It’s not talent or word power that make writers successful; it’s staying power. Here are our 7 best tips to thrive as a writer. 1.
How To Write Effective Dialogue
In most stories, people talk to each other. Many readers enjoy the “talking bits” the most, and will happily skip the scenic descriptions. So how
Eleven Ways To Draw In Your Reader
Here are 11 ways to draw in your reader and keep them hooked. Each one of these ways takes time to master, so do expect
How Do You Improve Your Chances Of Winning A Short Story Competition?
After over a decade of judging thousands of short stories in our national writing competitions, our Writers College judges have compiled a list of eight
Create Perfect Logical Flow In Your Writing
Logical flow is one of the trickier writing skills to master, but it is vital for good writing. Here’s a guide to making sure your
Want to Transform Your Writing?
How to Keep Writing
Is Being a Writer the Career For You?
Check out a tongue-in-cheek but accurate flowchart that shows off the writing process step by step. Created by STEVE BAILEY About the Author Steve Bailey
I Write to Boost My Mental Health: Here’s What I’ve Learnt
As more and more people are talking about ways to cope with mental health, writing has become a popular option. This is not surprising since
Rejection as a Writer: How to Deal with It
Here are 8 ways to turn rejection into a triumph. It’s all very well to be told not to take it personally when you’ve had
Want to Transform Your Writing?
What Stops You from Writing?
Fear, self-doubt, procrastination, waiting for perfect conditions – there are so many reasons why we put off getting started on our writing dreams.
At The Writers College, we help writers reach their goals, by encouraging a daily writing routine and removing the doubts from the writing process.