This article was originally published on Hubpages in 2010. I'm slowly transferring all my articles there to here. Filling in Character Charts While filling-in character charts might seem time-consuming, that investment of effort will pay back dividends. Not only will it save you time in the long term, but the process will help you to think carefully about your fictional character—who they are, how their life is, what their motives are, and what is important to them. Working through the chart will help flesh out your fictional character, making them more believable to readers. If you know your fictional character thoroughly, they will appear more alive and three-dimensional in print. Bring Characters to Life You may well find that you get fresh ideas for subplots, too, as you visualise the character more completely. I've found this to be the case on a number of occasions. You may not necessarily use all the details. For example, there is no need to pen an item-by-item descriptio...

The exhibition at Seagrass Studios and Gallery, in West Kirby, Wirral, closes this weekend so if you wish to view my watercolour painting on show there - plus lots of other truly lovely art - then be sure to call in.  The gallery can be found on Acacia Grove, which is directly opposite the train station. Birkenhead Park sketch, and my painting (centre by lamp) in Seagrass Gallery These last few weeks, I've been busy writing Morgan .  Explained simply, there are three ways to write a novel.  One way is to plan everything in advance, making detailed notes which are then followed rigidly.  The opposite method is to plan nothing at all, to have a loose idea and start exploring this through writing and slowly discover where it might lead.  The middle way offers a compromise between these two extremes; the writer has a few notes which log important plot twists and outcomes, but which also leaves plenty of room for flexibility and improvisation. Each writer nee...

Fabian: An Artisan-Sorcerer Story out 09.09.16 I can now announce that the fourth novel in the Artisan-Sorcerer Series is now available in book shops the world over, in both paperback and ebook formats. I hope you all enjoy Fabian , and will consider writing a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble or your blog or social networking site.  We indie authors can always use a bit of help, you know! I'm already developing ideas for the fifth novel.  I already know how it's going to end and who is going to die.  I'm not quite sure how our heroes are going to arrive at that point yet, but it will come.  The process is like daydreaming.  I toy around with an idea and allow my imagination to go anywhere it wants to, sometimes prodding it along a little with 'what if' questions but not trying to force ideas in any specific direction as that tends to limit creativity.  In this way, I end up with a flexible plot outline without having written even ...

Welcome to this series of writing tips. If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com . How many times have you read advice which encourages you to write 1,000 words a day, every day?  The purpose of this seems logical enough - if you produce a steady flow of words bit by bit your novel or short story collection will be finished. This standard gem of advice works fine if you have the time to write 1,000 words a day.  Perhaps you sprint past this word-count regularly.  If so, good for you.  However, if you aim for the golden number of 1,000 words but find yourself regularly falling short, this post is for you. Writing 1,000 words a day might be fine for people who are at home for much of the day.  It might be fine for people who work but whose partners are happy to carry the load while the writer's evenings and weekends are focused solely on writing.  But if you have kids who need takin...

Welcome to this series of writing tips. If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com . Today, guest blogger Gemma Gaten shares her ideas about how to improve creativity. Every person is unique. We are all creative in our own simple ways but most of us haven't realised our full creative potential. Some people are trying to unlock their creativity while others give up trying to know in which field they are most creative. Being intelligent, hard-working, and having a nice attitude are not enough to become successful in your chosen career. More than these things, you must learn how to use your normal intelligence in doing creative work. Creativity is an element that is present in all fields. Whether you are working in a business, have a job related to the arts or technology and social media, your level of creativity plays a vital role in your profession. Enhancing creativity can impact upon every aspect of your life. That...

Welcome to this series of writing tips.  If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com . One of the frequently occurring ideas have met with, during my years with Riverside Writers, insists that there is, hidden away somewhere, a formula which guarantees success. People holding to this belief will invest much time and energy on courses, workshops, 'How To' books, endless research or the latest software searching for this formula. Courses may be interesting and educational, and the student may well graduate clutching a pretty certificate and a sense of personal fulfilment. Something similar could be said of workshops, and any gathering of like-minded people can bring an opportunity for networking. Both courses and workshops tend to be money-earning ventures, which is no bad thing in itself - most people like to supplement their income! - but remember that as educational establishments are now run as businesses, it is in thei...

Welcome to this series of writing tips. If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com . The challenge of filling the blank space on a screen can feel daunting to some new writers.  They want to write but can't quite get going.  They can write, but don't know where to start.  They've a million ideas but what if it all goes wrong?  So they stare at the screen and wait for inspiration to zap some inspiration into their lives.  Meanwhile, the clock's ticking and nothing is getting written.  The more this hurdle is thought about, the bigger it seems to get. At Riverside Writers, we set a monthly writing project to give people a starting point.  This can take the form of a title, a location, a first line or a set of objects which need to be included in a story or poem.  We have been doing this for several years now and those who participate regularly have found it a very useful tool to help them get writing....

Welcome to this series of writing tips.  If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com . I am often asked where I get my ideas for stories from.  This is a slightly puzzling question, to me, as I've more ideas for stories than I have time to write.  I get my ideas from all over the place, but while this answer covers it from my perspective it's probably not so helpful to anyone else. The standard advice to all writers and poets is to carry a notebook around with you so whenever you see or hear something of particular interest you can note it down.  I used to do this.  Now I've a cupboard jammed with notebooks which I never even glance at as there is a long queue of ideas in my mind already, and so I no longer use this method.  You're totally free to try it and see if it works for you, of course.  Perhaps the real benefit of note-keeping is that it primes the mind to be aware of ideas for stories...

Welcome to this series of writing tips, to be posted each Wednesday. If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com.  If you want to be a writer, or to improve your writing and your chances of being published, you need to read.  Read all kinds of books, including those which you might not usually choose for yourself.  You can learn as much from authors whose work leaves you cold as you can from those you instinctively love.  You will discover ideas, methods of plot construction and literary styles which you many not have thought otherwise thought of.  Some of these you might choose to adapt for your own work; others you might make a point of never using on pain of  death.  But you will have given yourself the opportunity to analyse which aspects of any particular book worked and which didn't, in your opinion, and to make your own creative choices based on this. T...

Welcome to this series of writing tips, to be posted each Wednesday. If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com .   Today I'm happy to present a guest post by Sandra Miller.    Sandra Miller is a writer living in New York. Two times a year she watches the sitcom Friends. Her passion is Latin American culture, and she loves salsa. Sandra uses professional editing services help to write great material.     Simple Tips in Editing your Own Work Writing doesn’t stop at finishing your first draft. You have to go through another process and that is editing your own work. Editing is the process whereby the writer checks on whether the paper is well-written and organized in terms of content, clarity, overall structure, style and transition of paragraphs. Here are a few tips which can help you through the process. Tip No. 1. Finish the draft first. As much as possible, avoid editing while you’re wri...

  Introducing Morgen Bailey!   Today, I'm joined by Morgen Bailey, who has agreed to share some writing tips.  At Riverside Writers, new members often ask about the best ways to go about learning their craft, having been left bewildered by a huge array of 'how to' books which trot out vast lists of Dos and Don'ts.  Here, Morgen keeps things simple.   Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey is a prolific blogger, podcaster, editor/critiquer, Chair of NWG (which runs the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition ), Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition and creative writing tutor for her local council. She is also a freelance author of numerous ‘dark and light’ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com , is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter , Facebook along with many others (listed on her blog’s Contact page ). ...

More gifts for writers at Spooky Cute Designs:   http://www.zazzle.co.uk/AdeleCB I was asked, today (again),  how a person goes about writing novels.  My reply of, "It depends" probably wasn't all that helpful.  In my defence, at the time I was busy attaching a rebellious strand of millet to the inside of a budgie cage while dear ol' Archie was trying to discover if my fingers were edible.  How's that for gratitude.  And I'd given him fresh water, too... Over time, every writer develops their own way of working.  Otherwise, they tend to give up and do something else.  There's no right or wrong way; only the way which works for each individual.  Some people plan every chapter in great detail before they even consider starting work on the text.  Other people plan nothing at all; they just start writing and see where an idea takes them.  Others fall somewhere in between these two.  How do you find...