Books For Writers

Finding character names

2010-09-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes characters' names leap out at you. Often, they're named before you've even begun to write their story. But there are times when a suitable name just won't come, especially for minor characters.

Traditional advice was to open the phone book or newspaper randomly, or combine two halves of different names to make a new one.

Now, these names are emailed to your inbox on a daily basis if, like everyone else in the world, you receive sp*m mail. For example, I today received mail from:-

Jonathan Richardson
Hayden Scott
Xavier Reed
Dusty Rutherford
Barbara Simon
Edwin Leonard

To me, these names conjure up very definite mental images of particular kinds of characters and I'll be noting a few down for future reference. However, one word of advice - before you turn Xavier Reed into a master-criminal or Barbara Simon into an officious librarian, double check that these characters only populate your imagination and that their alter-ego isn't walking the streets in a town near you!

Writing a submission letter

2009-05-15T02:06:00.000-07:00

At the London Book Fair, Simon Trewin of United Agents gave some insight into what he would like to see in a submission letter.

He suggests one side of A4 and not a dozen pages. Tell the agent about yourself, your influences, whether you're a member of a writing group or have attended conferences. Focus on the project you're working on and mention what you want to tackle next.

Be professional and confident - although there is a very fine line between confidence and arrogance. And don't mention previous failures. If you begin your letter with "I've sent it to fifteen agents already and been rejected" it doesn't make a great first impression.

Although we're often told not to, Simon suggested sending it to more than one agent at a time. If you wait for each agent to reply before sending it out to the next, you could be a year down the line before finding someone. Publishing a book is a long process anyway so save yourself the time wherever you can.

London Book Fair

2009-04-20T05:44:00.001-07:00

This year I attended the London Book Fair Masterclass where a panel of guest authors and publishers gave some great advice to authors on writing technique, content and how to submit manuscripts. My next few posts will pass on the enlightening advice given by these industry insiders.

The first speaker was Simon Trewin, literary agent of United Agents in London. He receives 4,000 to 5,000 approaches every year and every single one of these is read before it is returned.

Simon loves his job and can't imagine doing anything else so he is necessarily drawn to authors with the same amount of passion for their work. Half-hearted approaches, detailing your failures to date won't impress him much. He wants hard working, committed, enthusiastic authors as clients who are willing to take good advice and work with the team that will eventually bring the book to the shelf.

He also said that authors approach agents far too early in the process. Don't send in the only two chapters you've written because it might be another year before you reach the end. Finish the book first and make it the best it can possibly be before you send it out. With the high level of submissions, agents don't always have time to provide a detailed literary critique.

More next time on how to prepare a letter approaching an agent.

Elaine Saunders Complete Text

Special offer on Fiction Writing Exercises e-book

2009-02-23T01:25:00.000-08:00

Fiction Writing Exercises has previously been offered as a writing course - a paperback book and email critique on the scenes you write with the exercises.

To celebrate it's first year of publication, the e-book version is now being offered as a stand-alone writers' resource at a considerably reduced price.

You'll still have 120 exercises on 30 themes but not the email feedback, although there's always room to upgrade to the full course.

Free writing prompts and resources will still be available here so sign up for regular updates.

Don't forget to write!

Love is in the air

2009-02-12T00:41:00.001-08:00

Here in the UK we've had enough of the snow so we're going to focus on something a little warmer today.

Saturday is St Valentine's day when greetings cards manufacturers and growers of long-stemmed red roses have a very profitable time of it. Therefore, we're going to buck the trend and have a St Valentine's writing prompt that doesn't focus on cards, flowers and chocolates.

Write a 500 word love scene that isn't necessarily something from a weepy movie. Make it a bit different by putting your couple in a situation that isn't outwardly romantic or have your hero and heroine be something other than lantern jawed or small and pretty. Perhaps your couple are elderly and celebrating 60 years together. Or there could be a disparity in their ages. Anything that doesn't make them a cute, photogenic twosome.

If you really can't face it, write a scene with St Valentine as a theme. Maybe it's the name of a church, hospital or road. There was even a gang shootout involving Al Capone in Chicago on this day.

February 14th also saw the death of Capt James Cook in Hawaii (1779), Alexander Graham Bell applying for a patent on the telephone (1876), Arizona becoming the 48th State (1912) and the Ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia.

Plenty of scope for those of you who want to avoid the romance industry this week.

As always, save your scene, email me your results and post it to the blog. Good luck!

Elaine Saunders

Snow day inspiration

2009-02-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone in the UK is taking advantage of the snow - inspiration-wise.

Not only can you add realistic descriptions of snow-covered roads and frosty mornings to your writing arsenal, but there are very many more situations a snowy day evokes:-

What does it feel like to be cold? What colour are your hands when you've finished clearing snow off the car? How does the wind creep in under your scarf? Describe the sensation of cold feet warming up again. What's it like walking through deep snow.
Describe the elation of schoolchildren released from lessons for a day
How stressful is it driving to work and how do drivers around you react to the queues? You could write this one in the car as you stop-start along.
Do you feel guilty about keeping warm when other members of your family have to struggle out of the door?
What's it like to have the entire country on shut down?
Maybe you need to be somewhere but can't reach it. How will this affect you or your story?
What's it like to race downhill on a sledge and what memories does it stir?

Don't forget that a thaw will follow the snow so be ready to record the dirty colours of slush, the despondent faces of children returning to school and the relief of being back to normal.

File everything away so that, when you come to write your crucial winter scene at the height of summer, you'll be able to recreate the atmosphere perfectly.

I'd be glad to read any thoughts via email or on the blog itself.

Keep warm!

Elaine Saunders

Complete Text

Inspiration coming to your desk

2009-02-03T02:05:00.001-08:00

This week I caught an interesting podcast with, amongst others, Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass.

Mr Pullman is often asked where his ideas come from and he said,

"I usually answer it with, I don't know where they come from but I know where they come to. They come to my desk and if I'm not there they go away again. In other words, if you sit there for long enough, you'll think of something. If you sit there day in, day out, being prepared to put up with the long stretches when nothing in particular occurs to you, eventually something will."

It's reassuring to know that even an author of Philip Pullman's calibre doesn't find writing easy. Even he needs to put in the time, sit at his desk and make himself available to ideas. If he doesn't, the ideas don't reach him.

This is a valuable lesson for all writers - both beginning and experienced authors. There's no substitute for sitting down and thinking about your stories or characters for a set time every day. Even half an hour can give you a page of dialogue or scene setting that will quickly build into a longer manuscript.

Make writing a priority and build it into your daily routine to have any hope of success. It cannot be undertaken half-heartedly or haphazardly.

To get yourself in training for your novel why not follow some daily writing exercises that will almost certainly produce usable scenes or situations? Click here for a free extract from Fiction Writing Exercises and start writing today.

You can catch the entire interview with Philip Pullman by following this link to Random House and looking for the podcast entitled On Inspiration And Good Reads.

Elaine Saunders
Complete Text

New Year writing prompt

2009-01-03T09:05:00.001-08:00

January is the time for resolutions, many of which don't endure past February, despite our best intentions. However, as an author, you can control the lives of your characters better than your own!

Make a resolution for one of your characters - whether sensible or strange - and then consider what would happen if he stuck to it all year. What happens when he resolves to look for a new job, move house or take up sky-diving? Does buying a lottery ticket bring him new wealth? How fit is he after going jogging for a whole year and what are the consequences?

Alternatively, have him fail in his resolution and consider the knock on effect. Continuing to smoke drives his wife away or makes him ill. He can't raise the money for his dream holiday but the plane he was due to fly on crashes with no survivors. He doesn't buy Fiction Writing Exercises and misses the chance to write a great novel in 2009.

Comedy, mystery, romance or tragedy - the choice is yours. Email me the results through Complete Text or post it here for us all to read.

http://www.completetext.com/

A wintery writing prompt

2008-12-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

As we sink further into the cold weather many of us will find our cars iced over in the morning.

Use the image of a car covered with frost or snow as the start of your scene and ask yourself what this object means to your character or your story.

Are you scraping the windscreen to go to work? Do you have an emergency dash to the hospital early one morning? Have you been tucked up snuggly in front of the fire over the holiday period and left your car on the drive. Do you find an abandoned car half buried in the snow after a search for the missing person. Are you a recovery driver called out to help someone stuck in a snow drift.

See how easily one starting image can spawn several different lines of thought? Where will your footprints in the frost lead?

As always, I'd love you to email me anything you write with this prompt - you can contact me through my website at www.completetext.com. Or post your scene to the blog for us all to read.

Make 2009 the year you finally write your novel. Perhaps it could begin with a scene involving a car covered in frost!

Remember, Fiction Writing Exercises is on offer for the whole of December. There's no better present to get someone writing in 2009.

Write a reunion

2008-12-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

We had a separations in September but, with the holidays looming, this week's writing prompt is centred on reunions.

I doesn't need to be a Christmas homecoming, it can be any kind of get-together. A school reunion twenty years after leaving. Old friends meeting at a wedding. Bumping into a former colleague around town. Family flying in from abroad and meeting at the airport.

A reunion can be a turning point in a novel but it needn't be a huge dramatic set piece. Picking up a child from school, seeing a friend for coffee or meeting someone for a business lunch can be low-key reunions that provide information, describe characterisation or move the plot along.

As always, avoid cliches and remember to file away your creation for future reference. If you like, send me your scene via my website Complete Text and I'll let you know what I think. If you're brave enough, post it as a comment for all to see!

And don't miss the special offers running on Fiction Writing Exercises from now until Christmas. You could find that 2009 is your year to get Literary Fit

Elaine Saunders
Author: Fiction Writing Exercises
Complete Text
It’s A Book About….blog

Special Christmas offers

2008-12-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

SPECIAL PRE-CHRISTMAS OFFER. SAVE UP TO 50% ON THE COVER PRICE OF FICTION WRITING EXERCISES

- PAPERBACK REDUCED FROM £25 TO £20 AND E-BOOK FROM £20 TO £10.

If you know a writer who resolves to write a novel in 2009, why not buy them a writing course for Christmas? Fiction Writing Exercises is not just a book, but an online writing course too and has 120 exercises on 30 themes to get you Literary Fit and in training for your novel.

Whether you're a new writer or a long time author who's lost the plot you can become more focused, creative and write regularly. An essential workbook for anyone serious about finally finishing that novel.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! With both the paperback and download versions, there's FREE email feedback and advice on the scenes you write with these exercises so you'll have all the help you need to be a more productive writer.

No better Christmas gift - or treat yourself to a little creativity for 2009

Elaine Saunders

http://www.completetext.com/

Recommended Podcasts

2008-11-26T03:33:00.000-08:00

A couple of posts ago I mentioned podcasts as a source of inspiration and I'd like to recommend some of my favourites. All are available for free through the iTunes store and most are regularly updated. You don't even need an iPod to listen as you can download them to, and listen to them from, your computer.

B&N Meet the Writers - Barnes & Noble bring you interviews with literally hundreds of authors across many different genres. They've talked to cookery writers, world famous novelists and non fiction authors, most of whom discuss their working day and their motivation. Barnes & Noble also do lots of other books-related podcasts.

Guardian Books Podcast - More in-depth author interviews and readings together with reports from book festivals and awards. Although based in the UK, they interview authors from all over the world. A similar podcast is also available from the London Times called The Times Online Books Podcast.

To prove that no one does it like the BBC look out for two of their podcasts. The first is the World Book Club from the BBC World Service and the second is Simon Mayo's Book Panel from Radio 5. Both may additionally be available on the BBC website. The first is a half hour in-depth interview with authors like John Irving, Umberto Eco and Alice Walker whilst the second is a panel discussion and slightly more light-hearted. Both highly recommended.

Hopefully they'll inspire you to put pen to paper yourself.

Elaine Saunders Complete Text

Top 100 Books

2008-11-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

Several blogs are posting a list of the top 100 books compiled from an American viewpoint for the Big Read.

Here is the list again, but this time from the BBC and with a slightly more British slant.

The idea is to copy the list into Word and

Bold the ones you've read
Italicise the ones you own and
Underline any you've seen in film or TV format.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

To motivate you to write a great book yourself, why not check out book 101 - Fiction Writing Exercises by Elaine Saunders!

2008-10-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Many writers are unaware of the wealth of untapped resources available on iTunes. And, even better, most are available for free.

If you haven't already done so, download iTunes for free onto your computer and look for a link to the iTunes Store. Once there, enter books, author or writing into the search box and you'll find literally hundreds of podcasts to inspire you.

Podcasts are mini-broadcasts produced by publishers, retailers or book enthusiasts. They contain interviews with successful authors, book reviews, online tutorials and much more - a world of inspiration available for free download.

If you're writing a genre novel, for example, sci fi or historical, you'll find podcasts to help you with your research. Writing coaches have uploaded regular workshops and prompts to keep you writing and aspiring authors read out their own work.

There is even a great deal of information on self-publishing and marketing to give your writing career and sales a boost. The possibilities are limitless.

I'll be pointing you towards some of my favourites in later blogs but, in the meantime, why not put pen to paper and use some Fiction Writing Exercises to flex your literary muscles?

www.completetext.com

What if you came into money?

2008-10-14T05:45:00.000-07:00

To counteract all this financial doom and gloom why not take the opposite view and imagine how it would feel to come into money?

Even a small windfall could have a dramatic effect. A coin on the pavement that provides the means to buy a winning lottery ticket. A gift voucher that buys you a new outfit - where will you wear it? Change found in the glove compartment to buy a drink on a hot day - who do you meet in the queue? A few pennies pocket money as a child and the treats it can buy.

Or think big and come into millions. How would you invest it? What would you buy first? Is there something you've always longed for but, once you buy it, it fails to live up to expectations? Does the money cause a rift within your family?

As always, I'd be interested to read whatever you come up with. Either post as a comment to the blog or email me through my website, http://www.completetext.com/.

And finally, a very telling quote from Sabine Schultz (editor, Tea, Italy):
"The biggest reason your book won't get published is because you didn't write it."

Why not buy a copy of Fiction Writing Exercises and start getting Literary Fit today? Free email feedback on all scenes so there's no excuse to delay.

Write a farewell scene

2008-09-30T03:42:00.000-07:00

With so many teenagers starting university this week thousands of families are waving goodbye to their sons and daughters.

This week therefore, the exercise is to write a farewell scene but try and do something a bit different.

Saying goodbye doesn't need to involve tears and regret. There can be a mixture of emotions. Parents may be upset at their daughter moving out but there'll be a great deal of pride and even some relief. On the girl's part, she might be nervous but she'll also be excited at the thought of living independently, making new friends and staying out until the early hours.

Farewell doesn't need to be the end of a chapter. It can also be a new start or a time for characters to reinvent themselves.

And the scene doesn't need to involve people. Say goodbye to a house you once lived in or the town where you grew up. How did you feel on selling your first car? Have you ever had a pet die?

When you come up with something, post your scene as a comment on this blog or link back to your own blog so we can all read it.

Keep writing

Elaine Saunders
http://www.completetext.com/

So you think English is easy - part one

2008-09-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

Someone emailed this to me recently and it just shows how difficult the English language is. Not only do you need to ensure your spelling is correct but that you also read with the stress in the proper place.

That's why it's so important to read your work aloud before submitting it - words are very different on the page and on the ear.

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.
19. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Fantastic response to the latest blog post

2008-09-08T03:41:00.000-07:00

Following my (long ago) writing prompt suggesting you write about the weather, I've received such a great response that I had to bring it to your attention.

Nei Nei Neina-Marie has produced a brilliant piece of writing about a rainy day on her blog. When talking about the weather it's all too easy to become conversational and use stock phrases like, the sky was grey and there were huge puddles on the ground.

Neina-Marie goes a long way past physical description to produce something incredibly atmospheric that conveys not only the sense of the grey skies but a much deeper mood. You can almost hear the sound of the rain hitting the window and feel the damp in the air but, cleverly, you also have an insight into the watcher's underlying sadness.

Reading this piece makes me wonder why she's so sad, what's happened recently and what's she going to do next. Is it a drama, a romance or a murder mystery that's unfolding here?

Even is she does not use this piece immediately, Neina-Marie has it on hand to set the tone in a future work, making the writing of that scene so much easier and authentic.

If anyone else has written something about the weather, why not post a comment below so we can all share your thoughts.

...and finally, I'm gradually adding some writers' resources and free articles to to my website, Complete Text where I'll have more space than a blog allows. Check back regularly to see what's new or subscribe to this blog for regular updates.

Keep writing

http://www.completetext.com/

Write about the weather

2008-05-28T02:40:00.001-07:00

If you're looking out of the window in Britain at the moment, you're probably seeing rain. According to the weathermen, we've had a month's worth of rain in two days and there's more to come. Clever writers can use any type of weather to their advantage however.

At some point in your novel-writing career you'll probably need to describe a scene in which weather features. It can be a sunny day, a storm out to sea or a grey day in the centre of the city. If, at the time you come to write the scene, you call simply on your imagination, you're missing a trick. Why not make it easy for yourself by describing the weather as and when you see it and file it away for future reference?

Look out of the window and write down what you see. How is the rain hitting the pavement? What colour is the sky? Where is water dripping from? What's floating in the puddles? How do people walk under an umbrella with rain beating down on them?

Next time you come to write a rainy scene, your prose will have an authentic ring that you'd find it difficult to create from imagination alone. And, as it's so easy to store words digitally, you could have lots of mini-essays on every type of weather to draw on in the future.

If you want to explore writing on different topics as a way of kick-starting your novel or re-energising your work, why not sign up for the online writing course? Full details, a sample exercise and a link to the book's sales page can be found on the right.

Can writing be taught?

2008-04-25T04:54:00.001-07:00

Is it possible to learn to write or is it simply a talent one is born with? The answer to this is both, yes and no.

If someone lacks the imagination to express themselves or their ideas in normal speech, it's unlikely that they're going to be motivated to write a novel. It is therefore probably close to impossible to teach such a person to produce a story that others would like to read.

However, they could still be a brilliant non-fiction writer. Any book on computer programming or advanced physics is likely to be incomprehensible to a large percentage of the population but that doesn't mean it's bady written. It's simply been produced for a distinct audience or user and the author has tailored it to that market. Just as some writers lean towards crime novels, romantic fiction or sci-fi, so other authors choose to specialise in technical or specialist non-fiction.

Writing can sometimes be likened to sport. People may be born with an athletic build or a natural talent for running or ball games, but this inborn gift would be nothing without daily practice. Gold medal winners don't simply fall out of bed and turn up at the track, they spend months if not years pounding over the same ground, repeating their training programme and working on their technique until they have it perfect.

The same goes for writers. No matter how natural and effortless your "voice" you still need to write regularly to maintain and improve that talent. There's no substitute for sitting down at your desk and getting on with it. Top athletes still work hard to maintain their edge or look for new ways to improve their performance. Daily practice works in exactly the same way for writers.

Improve your style, hone the way you express yourself and develop your narrative skills by making time every day to write something, even if it's only a description of the weather or the man who sat next to you on the train. The more you train yourself to be Literary Fit by flexing your creative muscles, the easier and more fluid will your narrative performance become.

Write something today!

New books and e-books for writers

2008-04-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

Books For Writers is the place for information on a new range of books and e-books for writers in the Book About range.

The debut title is A Book About Fiction Writing Exercises which is more of an online course than a book aimed at anyone writer wanting to maximise their ideas output.

With 120 exercises on 30 themes, this invaluable book will get you Literary Fit and in training for your novel. Whether you're an aspiring author short on ideas, or a long-term writer who's literally lost the plot, these exercises will get you focused, creating and writing regularly. An essential workbook for anyone serious about finally getting down to writing that novel.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! With both the paperback and download versions of A Book About Fiction Writing Exercises there's FREE email feedback and advice on scenes written with the exercises so you'll have all the help you need to be a more productive writer.

To find out more about the course, visit Complete Text for a free extract, sample exercise and details of how to buy A Book About Fiction Writing Exercises

Whilst you're there, take a close look at the handwritten notes on the cover. Can you identify the famous novel from which they're taken? Answer in the weeks to come, unless someone out there knows already!