Chapters – Entitled or just a number?

Is it better to put a title at the beginning of each chapter in your book or should you merely put a simple number? I’ve never used chapter titles when writing my own books although I’ve absorbed them when reading other books.

What do chapter titles do?

They can act as promises of what’s […]

Home or away? Choose your setting

Writing class

“Write what you know!“

There’s a statement that was hammered home at us when we were newbie writers.

Well, I half obeyed when I wrote my first book INCEPTIO. Actually, it was less than that. I knew the military bit, I’d clambered over a lot of Roman Europe and I knew […]

Summer vacuum – the time of little writing

Pergola and swimming pool in summer

Updated and republished

Hooray! Summer is here; warm, lazy days, extra wine, days out with the family and friends, a holiday away. Mmm.

We have two scenarios before us:

The first:

You have a deadline looming, your fans are waiting, your muse is bashing away in your head with fantastic scenes you simply must write. […]

Carol Drinkwater's notes on writing

I’m delighted to welcome writing friend Carol Drinkwater to the blog. She’s a multi-award winning actress and writer, possibly best known for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC’s original television series, All Creatures Great and Small.

Carol is the author of twenty-four books, both fiction and non-fiction. She has achieved bestselling […]

Balancing romance, social commentary and historical fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Clare Flynn back to the blog. She’s the author of eighteen historical novels and is about halfway through her nineteenth. published by Storm, Canelo and herself, her books have now been translated into three languages.

She lives on the south coast of England, in Sussex, where she can watch the […]