Tag Archives: tips on writing

Writing With Emotion – Four Top Tips

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Della Galton

Writers are in the business of selling emotion. I forget who said that, but it’s true. We read – or at least I do – because we want to feel something. We might want to feel amused, uplifted, scared, touched, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ice and a Slice, Inspiration, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Six tips for writing shorts for Nanowrimo

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Della Galton

As I mentioned in my last blog I’m busy doing Nanowrimo this month. But as usual I’m writing 50k of short stories in November not a novel. This is more useful for me, being as shorts are my day job. … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, NaNoWriMo, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

How do I stop my romances becoming predictable?

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Della Galton

Here’s another question from a recent postbag at Writers’ Forum. This one comes up quite a bit.  We’re talking fictional ones by the way! Q A common cause for the rejection of short stories (I know, because I’ve received many!) is … Continue reading →

Posted in Dear Della, Questions from Dear Della, Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Writing, Writing problems and solutions | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Holidays for Writers – are they worth it?

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Della Galton

I’ve recently been lucky enough to spend time at two well known writers’ Summer Schools.  The Writers’ Holiday at Fishguard (Pembrokeshire) and Swanwick the Writers’ Summer School (Derbyshire). So what can you do at a writers’ holiday? Apart from network and enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Retreat, Writing, Writing conferences & schools | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Do all stories need conflict? and How do unknown writers get published?

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Della Galton

A couple more question from my post bag at Writers’ Forum 🙂 Q: Do all stories have to feature conflict, resolution and growth, with false hopes and disappointments along the way? I appreciate that a straightforward happy little narrative would … Continue reading →

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Tips on writing emotion

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Della Galton

Writers are in the business of selling emotion.  I don’t remember who said that, but it’s spot on. If a reader doesn’t emotionally connect with a character they won’t care about them and they won’t read on. So getting emotion … Continue reading →

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Ten Inspiring Quotes About Writing

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Della Galton

1. Talent is not as important as authenticity. 2. Editing makes it perfect but raw is sometimes better. Don’t polish out the sparkle. 3. The best way to find your voice is to write more. 4. What comes from the … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Happy Ever After – or is it? How do you get a good end?

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Della Galton

For me, endings have always been the most difficult thing to get right.  But a bad ending can ruin an otherwise excellent story. There are all sorts of bad endings. You probably recognise most of these. They don’t really need … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Questions from Dear Della, Tips on writing, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The New Year’s Resolution every writer will keep

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Della Galton

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? We set a New Year’s resolution – this year we are going to write the novel, write every day, submit ten short stories a month to magazines. Will we keep them? Well, … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Ten Stories NOT to send to Woman’s Weekly

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Della Galton

I was lucky enough to be teaching with the very lovely Gaynor Davies at Woman’s Weekly last Monday. Here are a list of stories she currently does NOT WANT because a) they have too many already or b) they’d been … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Inspiration, News, Short stories for magazines, Woman's Weekly, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments