Tag Archives: Writing advice

Naming Favorites by Nancy Jane Moore

Posted on 19 July 2022 by Jacey Bedford

A few years ago I heard someone ask Vonda N. McIntyre which of her novels was her favorite. Her answer? “The one I’m working on now.” It’s possible that she meant she was most excited about that particular book, the … Continue reading →

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Style Sheets by Jacey Bedford

Posted on 1 March 2022 by Jacey Bedford

Posted onOctober 6, 2020 byJacey Bedford Originally posted on February 7, 2017 by Jacey Bedford There’s a lot of information to keep in your head if you’re writing a book. There’s even more if you’re writing a trilogy or a … Continue reading →

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7) The Many Shaped Blurb by Colin Brush

Posted on 14 December 2021 by Jacey Bedford

The seventh in a series of how-to posts by Colin Brush ‘Poetry is precise a thing as geometry’ – Gustave Flaubert We’ve looked at beginning our blurb and structuring it utilising opposites and tension and now we’re going to see … Continue reading →

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6) Middling – the power of opposites to structure your blurb by Colin Brush

Posted on 7 December 2021 by Jacey Bedford

‘Elric knew that everything that existed had its opposite. In danger he might find peace. And yet, of course, in peace there was danger. Being an imperfect creature in an imperfect world he would always know paradox. And that was … Continue reading →

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5) Beginnings, or How to Get People’s Attention by Colin Brush

Posted on 30 November 2021 by Jacey Bedford

‘It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’ Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell We’re just over the halfway point in my guide to writing blurbs and you’re probably wondering when we’re going to get around … Continue reading →

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1) How to sell Your Book in a Few Words, by Colin Brush

Posted on 2 November 2021 by Jacey Bedford

This is the beginning of a series of weekly how-to posts by Colin Brush reprinted from Summer 2020. Follow this blog to get all the instalments. ‘If you think you have a book evolving, now is the time to write … Continue reading →

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Tricking Myself Into Writing by Juliet Kemp

Posted on 18 May 2021 by Jacey Bedford

Sometimes, whilst busily procrastinating, I consider whether writing is more something that I want to have done, than something I want to do; but then once I finally get myself over the hump and sit down to apply words to … Continue reading →

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Where do you get your ideas? by David Allan

Posted on 27 April 2021 by Jacey Bedford

Many SFF writers say they get asked this. Neil Gaiman has said he’s responded ‘from a little ideas shop in Bognor Regis’. On the same lines, Harlan Ellison is reputed to have said ‘Schenectady’. Another response that I’ve come across … Continue reading →

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The Problem with Prologues by Guy T Martland

Posted on 17 November 2020 by Jacey Bedford

At the time of writing this, I’m currently editing a novel for the nth time. In doing so, I’ve realised that the prologue has been removed and inserted as many times as I care to remember. This got me thinking … Continue reading →

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Twelve Ways To Be Better at Writing by David Gullen

Posted on 6 October 2020 by Jacey Bedford

I believe there are only two rules of writing, true rules that are unbreakable in the same way ‘Ye canna break the laws of physics’. (Except with the laws of Physics  we’re still not sure whether we have the full … Continue reading →

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