Stuart Aken's Blog, page 194

The Bridport Prize Anthology 2015, Reviewed.

I bought a copy of this paperback to see what sort of work might win the prizes in this much respected annual contest for writers. I’m intending to enter this year, so I wanted to discover what quality and style of work is considered good enough. Each year, the judges for the three categories of […]

Searching for the Right Words? Tip #5

Want to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. “I woke up on my back, looking up at […]

Fear of Dying, by Erica Jong, Reviewed.

I was introduced to Fear of Dying by a friend after I’d read and reviewed Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. Inevitably, there’s a temptation to compare, which I’ll attempt to resist. I’m of the same generation as the author, though a few years younger, so I’ve lived through the years she’s experienced and understand many […]

Searching for the Right Words? Tip #4

Do you want to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. I started out this series with the […]

A Walk in the PuzzleWood from the Movies.

Valerie and I have often wondered about a place called Puzzlewood that lies just outside the Forest of Dean about 5 miles from our home. We decided to give the place a visit for her birthday, yesterday. It has been used as a location for scenes in Dr Who, Merlin, Arthur, Starwars and is considered […]

Can’t Keep Up? 7 Brilliant Ways To Finish Your Story

Originally posted on Kristen Lamb's Blog:
Image via Flickr Creative Commons courtesy of Pedro Travassos Today we have a special treat from Dr John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing. He’s going to give us some ways to tackle one of the biggest problems plaguing writers—the inability to finish what we start. *gets popcorn* Take it…

Searching for the Right Word? Tip #3

Do you want to inspire readers with joy, arouse fear, romance with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Delicate Delicate is an adjective with many subtly different […]

Creative #Writing #Contests Page Updated

This week’s reminder that I’ve updated the contest table. Get your entries in early and see if you can gain some cash and kudos for your writing. The table updates each time I ‘save’ to the table; whenever you visit the page, it will be as up to date as it is on my home […]

Searching for the Right Word? Tip #2

Do you want to inspire readers with joy, arouse fear, romance with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Abundance: Listed in Roget’s under the header, Productiveness (noun), […]

How We’ll Live on Mars, by Stephen Petranek, Reviewed.

There are times when a book comes into our lives at an appropriate moment. This was one such for me. I’d just spent a few days reviewing the research I’d been doing for a science fiction novel set on Mars. Amongst the websites I’d downloaded to consult on technical issues, I found references to this […]