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An Open Letter from a Writer to the General Public

To whom it may concern, It's often said that everybody has a book in them. Perhaps there's an element of truth to this because each and every one of us haves stories woven into our DNA's, wanting to be told in one form or another. But a question…
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The Art of Letting Go For Writers

So, you have finished what you are working on. You have been over it and over it. And over it again. And you may not feel as though it is truly finished (is anything ever finished?), but nevertheless you need to send it off and the truth is…
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Should writers be part of a writing group?

Writing groups - what is your opinion of them? Do you think they they're a brilliant way of stoking our creative fires in a  supportive environment, or is our precious time better spent getting down to writing, rather than just chatting…
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Guest Post from Author Renita D'Silva

Five-time author Renita D'Silva is interviewed this week on her writing life and inspiration behind her bold, colourful novels that confront difficult and often taboo issues from within India, the country from which she hails and describes…
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A celebration of writing by hand and why we must retain this ancient artform

Did you know that Saturday 23 January is National Handwriting Day in the US? Spurred on by Danny Gregory's ridiculously inspiring blog, I decided that this week was the week to pen (or, ironically, type?) a celebration of writing by hand. John…
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How to be a writer when you're not writing

Illustration by Kris Di Giacomo for Matthew Burgess's book 'enormous SMALLNESS' Recently, my laptop died. Let's just say it had a little accident involving water and has, in two words, had it. (I am currently borrowing from various people and…
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Lessons learned about Reading & Writing in 2015

READING Read outside your comfort zone. There is, I can't deny, something so wonderful and luxuriant about snuggling down with a book you just know you will enjoy. But taking a few risks with reading can yield surprising, exciting responses.…
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9 Tips for putting the 'child' back into childhood

In light of the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday 13th November, what I wanted to blog about pales into insignificance. Sometimes I truly feel that the world is so environmentally, morally and ideologically broken that all I would like to…
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Guest Post by Louise Beech, Author of How to be Brave

During Remembrance Week we do just that – we remember. We honour the bravery of serviceman and women during the two World Wars, and later conflicts, by wearing our poppies, holding ceremonies across the UK, ringing half-muffled church bells…
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Guest post: Debbie Rix, Author of Secrets of the Tower

I was recently invited to be the guest speaker at a week-long conference on ‘creativity’ at a very trendy advertising agency in London. In the course of their week of activities on subjects as diverse as ‘the importance of curiosity’…