Having purpose in writing Is there anything as intrinsic to writing than purpose? Yet so many of us forget why we’ve started a story, we lose track and motivation, perhaps beguiled by characters or waylaid by a complex plot. Then …

The unreliable narrator A narrative can really carry you along. From the outset a reader trusts a storyteller, feeling in the mood to be entertained, to be moved, to have her/his emotions piqued. But what happens when a narrator doesn’t …

Every sex scene needs a purpose. Unless you’re writing actual erotica, a form of literary pornography, its purpose cannot be titillation alone. Whether your genre is Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi or Murder Mystery, there may come a point where your characters …

Spring haiku Friday Writing Group recently fell on the vernal equinox (the 22 September in the Northern Hemisphere, but already the 23rd for those of us Down Under!). As such, it inspired some spring-themed poetry: in the form of haiku. …

A recent writing prompt at Friday Writer’s Group was ‘a female author writing with a male pen name’. A theme that was more than just a little relevant for many of us … Picking a pen name If any of …