Category Archives: Inspiration

Writing for The Friend

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Della Galton

Last week I was lucky enough to listen to a talk – as well as have a chat with – Shirley Blair, Fiction ed of The People’s Friend.  Fascinating stuff.  Here are ten things you may or may not know … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Writing | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Ideas – a poem that inspires a story

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Della Galton

Recently, a lady wrote in to my Dear Della column in Writers’ Forum and asked me about turning a poem she had written into a story.  She wanted to know how to go about it. This is something I’ve done … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, plotting, Writing | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Creating Suspense in Short Stories – Three Top Tips

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Della Galton

I used to believe that the art of writing suspense was mostly about technique – short sentences build tension and pace, longer sentences slow it down. But suspense means so much more than this. So what does the word suspense … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, Short stories for magazines, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Eating Loads and Staying Slim

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Della Galton

The hardest thing about losing weight is keeping it off. I learned this in between trips to Slimming World, which I have been to three times.  That says it all really. I loved Slimming World – they helped me to … Continue reading →

Posted in How to Eat Loads and Stay Slim, Inspiration, News | 4 Comments

Woman’s Weekly Fiction Workshops – Hot Tips

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Della Galton

A couple of Fridays ago I was teaching again with Gaynor Davies at the Blue Fin Buildings, our subject, Writing Short Stories for Woman’s Weekly. I thought you might like an update. There are two more short story workshops planned … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Woman's Weekly, Writing | Tagged | 19 Comments

Wednesday Writing Spot – What Would You Save in a Fire?

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Della Galton

So… this is the year you are going to write that novel, sell a short story to a magazine, publish that memoir. In short, do everything you said you were going to do this time last year but didn’t quite … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Happy Christmas

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Della Galton

A very quick blog to say festive greetings and also, I must apologize for the distinct lack of reading material I’ve produced lately. In the last few weeks I’ve been moving out of my house, trying to find a new one, and … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration | 6 Comments

Christmas Presents for Writers

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Della Galton

That time of year again! How does Christmas creep up on us so fast? If you’re anything like me you’ve got one or two writers in your life so I thought I’d share some of my present ideas 🙂 I … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration | 4 Comments

Wednesday Writing Spot – Calling all short story writers who want to write a novel?

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Della Galton

If you’ve ever tried to write a novel and you’re on social media – particularly around this time of year – you have probably heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short).  It’s simple, you write a novel in … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, NaNoWriMo, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing | 7 Comments

Goals, writing a bestseller and the law of attraction

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Della Galton

If you are a regular follower of my blog you will know I’m quite keen on goals. I set goals for my writing: I set annual goals, which get broken down into weekly, monthly and daily goals. I come from … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Writing | 8 Comments