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Tips & Exercises

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How to pitch your book

If you have finished your manuscript, (or if you have a good idea of how your manuscript will progress) write a…

Kit de Waal

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How to pitch your book

Whenever I’m teaching a masterclass or talking to people about their work, one of the most interesting questions I ask is…

Kit de Waal
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Exercises

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Discover the value of walking

Read this poem by Thomas Traherne. In it, he describes the value of walking but – more crucially – the importance…

Helen Mort
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Take an idea for a walk

Many experiments have shown that we think well when we’re active – after a walk, people perform better on tests of…

Helen Mort

Exercises

Comedy

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Film & TV

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Radio

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Theatre

Create a visual map of your play

Write a sentence of prose for each scene, one per cue card. This should concisely tell you what is happening in that scene. It’s difficult, so don’t rush it. And make sure your sentences are ACTIVE.

Evan Placey

Tips

Redrafting a script

We all know about the agony caused by a blank page. Staring at a blinking cursor willing it to write itself. Even non-writers know about this. But I’m not convinced starting is the hardest or most painful part of the process.

Evan Placey
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Exercises

Do the shuffle!

Why not try this narrative shuffle, in the same vein as that act of estrangement with your writing personas. Cut up…

Fred D’Aguiar
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Read yourself as a stranger

Remember your reading voice, how you sound when you read your own work aloud (assuming that you read aloud as a…

Fred D’Aguiar
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Do a THAT return

Back in the mists of time, when I was working on my very first novel, I received my very first set…

Chrissie Manby
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Permission not to write

When you’re a writer – particularly when you start to make money from your writing – it can feel as though…

Chrissie Manby
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Non-Fiction & Life Writing

Live your subject

Non-fiction writers live their books before they write them. From biography to travel to books about music, art or sheep, for…

Horatio Clare
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Tips

Radio

An audience of one  

One of the many pleasures about writing for radio is that you have an audience of one. This solo audience member…

Polly Thomas
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Radio

Can you show, rather than tell?

One of the most popular radio devices is the narrative voice, inside the head. Usually given to the lead character, this…

Polly Thomas
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Tips

Poetry

A poem is made of words and silent words

When I was a child, what I believed to be the power of silent thought terrified me. I hadn’t learnt that…

Jen Hadfield

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