For Writers


Here you will find links to some useful writing tips
for new and novice 
(and even established!) writers
note: some links go to different blogs, but as far as I am aware they are all safe sites.

Confused? Some readers' comments give you 5 stars - others a 1 or 2? Not sure whether your written but unpublished novel is good enough to send to an agent - or to even self-publish it? If you are unsure about the quality of your novel the best advice is to have it professionally critiqued

These two are known good services:

HILARY JOHNSON https://www.hilaryjohnson.com/
and
CORNERSTONE https://cornerstones.co.uk/
For authors wishing for help/advice, you can't do better than join ALLi

Author MemberAssociate Member





The BEST place for advice for Indie/Self published authors is the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)  
https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org

About writing in general:

The History Quill. We have some good resources on our site that would be useful for writers such as:
  • How to write historical fiction in 10 steps
  • Top tips on writing historical fiction from 64 successful historical novelists
  • The top five challenges of writing historical fiction (and how to overcome them)
The History Quill aims to provide dedicated support to historical fiction writers at every stage of the writing process. We provide specialist historical fiction editing services, group coaching, and a wealth of resources tailored to the historical fiction genre. We’re here because of our deep-rooted passion for history and the stories it inspires, and we have a commitment to excellence in story craft that runs through all of our work. Whether you’re an experienced historical fiction writer or just getting started, you’re very welcome.

Some Writing Tips - the Dos and Don'ts - useful extracts from Discovering the Diamond by Helen Hollick with Jo Field
Using the right (or wrong) font 
A List of Words... - useful words to save repeating yourself! 

About Reviews and Reviewing

A few recommended Editors

Being Realistic In Historical Fiction - by Antoine Vanner (On Alison Morton's blog) 


More Useful Articles
 by various authors on various blogs:
#1 Top 10 Tips
#2 Improve your creative writing skills
#3 Does your self-published book pass the test?
#4 Writing a synopsis #1
#5 Writing a synopsis #2
#6 Using Twitter
#7 A Judges' Perspective of Historical Fiction (some more useful dos and don'ts!)
#8 The Writer's Workshop - How to get Published
#9 Waterstones - How to get published
#10 How to Publish a Book
#11 Ten tips for new writers (very good article)








6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. The book was written because I learnt the hard way about making mistakes - going Indie can be a very sharp learning curve!

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  2. I read and re-read my own stuff so much before I ever offer for publication that I get sick of looking at it.

    I found your "Common Bloopers" section absolutely hilarious! I still can't stop laughing! ROFLMAO

    Excellent advise all around.

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    Replies
    1. thank you - the bloopers: they pop up SO often (especially things like eyes running around!) They sound fine when spoken aloud but in print... perhaps not. (Although sometimes there is no option)

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  3. I'm with you all the way on the need for professional editing. Structural edits are invaluable but even other things you don't notice about your own work can benefit from someone else reading it. Most recently, someone pointed out that in the first chapter of my current WIP I used a lot of 's' sounding words, including character names. When I read it aloud, I must admit I sounded like Hissing Sid! Amended it.

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    Replies
    1. Reading aloud can be very productive for picking up repeated sounds and words! I usually read my chapters aloud when I'm more or less happy with them as a draft. Thanks for dropping by Susan (and glad to hear the W.I.P. is progressing!)

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