Writing Outside the Box

As I said in my first post, a novella is typically a stand-alone book of up to around 40,000 words. A novella is able to be published in...

This week we're going to be looking at the novella. A novella is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel. Again, there is...

Here are my top tips for writing good short stories: 1. Try developing a flash fiction into a short story. This is something I have...

This week's reading is a short story by Amanda Ajamfar. It was published on the Paper Darts website - this is a great resource for...

Similarly to flash fiction, there is no exact definition of a short story. Short stories tend to be a few pages which can generally be...

This week we'll be discussing the short story. Short stories are longer than flash fictions: they have a more developed plot, but can...

Here are my top tips for writing good flash fiction: 1. Read lots of other flash fiction. I really can't recommend this enough - and...

A flash fiction is a very short story, usually only consisting of a few hundred words, although there is no real boundary. If you are...

This month, our focus is going to be types of story. We'll start by looking at flash fiction - don't forget to read this week's story...

The rise-fall-rise plot, otherwise known as the Cinderella plot, looks like this: This is the most basic iteration of the plot, and Kurt...

The next plot we're looking at is the fall-rise plot, also known as the man in a hole plot: This tale invokes a more emotional response...

This week we were looking at a short piece by Mia Couto, if you missed it you can find it here: http://www.massreview.org/sites/default/f...

The first of the "happy ending" plots we'll be looking at is the classic rising plot, sometimes referred to as the Rags to Riches plot:...

The rise-fall plot, also known as the Icarus plot, looks like this: This is probably the type of plot you learnt early on in your...

Obviously, no two plots are the same, but there are some tried and tested plot structures that work, and this week I'm going to be...

It's the last week of this month's theme - features of writing. We're going to be looking at plot. The idea for a plot is probably the...

I've talked a lot about how to make a realistic setting, but how do you make a fantasy setting seem believable? My top tip is much the...

One of your first considerations when writing a story should be setting. Where is it set? Does the location change or do your...

This week we're going to be focusing on setting. Generally speaking, settings are either fictional or real. If you're going for a...

This week's reading is very short and comes again from the Bath Flash Fiction Awards. This piece is called The Undertakers' Jolly and is...