Tag: writing
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Writings from Write-ins 2: November
Here are some more little stories, this time from the November weekly Write-in sessions. As a reminder, in write-ins the host gives random prompts and timers (between 3 and 10 minutes in our case), and participants write whatever they can think of to match the prompt in that time. I like to write a story…
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Why don’t I write in my native tongue?
My first language is Welsh, and I don’t write in it. Apart from a near-constant quest to write a decent englyn, I haven’t written a piece of fiction in my native language since secondary school. I’ve barely thought about it. Why don’t I, though? That’s the question mam asked me a few months ago, making…
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Unlearning Fanfiction Crutches and Habits
Before I get into this post about bad habits I’ve been unlearning from my fanfic-writing days, a note to say: I love fanfiction. Totting up the ones with the biggest word-counts that I remember off the top of my head, I’ve written over a million words of fanfic, and read over fifteen million. This is…
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Making the Most of Beta Readers
Some of the most common questions asked in writing groups and reddit subs involve beta readers: how to find them; how to know if they’re any good; what to do when you don’t agree with the feedback; dealing with rude feedback or radio silence. A year ago I was one of those people asking questions.…
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Writings from a Write-In
Working on my novels, I don’t usually write anything short-form enough to share on a blog/newsletter like this, but I started taking part in a weekly virtual write-in recently and might as well share some snippets. If you’ve not been to a Write-In before, it goes like this: the host gives prompts, along with a…
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How to support your creative friends
Through my life, while writing book manuscripts, poetry and fan-fiction, I’ve found myself asking the same question time and time again: where am I going to get beta readers for this one? How am I going to convince friends or strangers to help and support me? Maybe I should join a critique group, I’d think,…
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Three Sentences from The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion hold a very dear place in my heart, and have for most of my life, but I’ll be the first to say they’re not the world’s most accessible tales. I’d loved the stories and characters for over a decade before I actually read a classical version from start to end. There are some…
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Year 1 in the querying trenches
(Hello Evie, hope you and Maisie are doing great. And your bf too. I have not memorised his name. If he wants people to remember his name, he should probably try being a dog.) I sent my first ever book query to a literary agent on the 27th of April this year, nauseous with excitement…
Non Hughes 