Untapped emotions

This week my emotions caught me out, as they often do. It was an ordinary day. I was doing bits of work in my front room because we had a plumber round doing some work in the bathroom. As I sat tapping away at my keyboard, a sound drifted down the stairs that...

Working title

How to craft a great title for your nonfiction book that will work for you It’s time to look beneath the surface of book titles and find out what makes them fly, or flop. Does it matter what you call your book if the content is cracking? Are there any golden rules to...

Why you need a writer’s notebook

Writer’s Notebook – pretentious accessory or crucial equipment? You may have heard people talking about having a “writer’s notebook”, and wondered what it is, and what you should be using it for. What is a writer’s notebook? Well,...

Navigating libel in memoir writing

The whole truth and nothing but the truth?  Writing your memoir is a chance to share your truth. Your story. Your reality. You control the stories you tell and how you tell them. The central character, alongside a supporting cast. But how supportive will those other...

Why we’re showing AI the door

AI has been dominating the headlines for a few years now. Everywhere you turn there is an AI addition to a platform or a software update that adds an AI feature. Companies are turning to artificial intelligence more and more for writing copy, creating programmes,...

Do memoirs have to be written in first person?

Shaking up perspective in life writing Had anyone else assumed that all memoirs were written from the author’s perspective? Just me? Before reading and studying life writing, it never would have occurred to me that memoirs might be written from any other stand point...

Pace makers

How to master pacing in nonfiction writing and why  There are lots of things we can do as nonfiction writers to help our readers absorb information, stay tuned and leave them wanting more. One of them is setting the right pace. Knowing how to deliver information at a...

Write from the heart

Heart vs head is a debate that comes up often in many areas of life, but is it relevant for writers? You may think that it is important, particularly with non-fiction writing, that you write using your head. After all you are sharing knowledge, experience and wisdom,...

Building Confidence in Your Writing Journey

Confidence can be one of the biggest challenges writer’s face. Generally speaking we have no shortage of ideas, we can use tools and professional services if we are unsure about editing, grammar. spelling etc. The thing that stops more people writing than...

5 ways to make your nonfiction as compelling as fiction

Nonfiction gets a bad rap in the entertainment stakes. It conjures images of dense, unimaginative textbooks or articles that sound like they’ve been written by a brick. But the best nonfiction is informative and just as entertaining and compelling as a great novel. It...