WriterCoach

02/04/2025

My new advanced editing course is now free on Udemy for 3 days.

Go beyond grammar and spelling to perform a substantive copy edit for meaning, style and structure in any subject

26/01/2024

Get creative with your fiction dialogue by mastering the core dialogue punctuation rules and guidelines. This article covers the top seven rules, with examples. Ideal for anyone writing or editing fiction.

Add authenticity and power to your fiction dialogue by applying these 7 rules and guidelines. Plus helpful examples.

16/11/2023

"Art creates a window into the transcendent dimension." If you are feeling doubtful about the value of your work as a writer or artist, take a look at this.

Jordan Peterson provides some great insight and wisdom to all artists and creative people.ART VLOGSEver wonder what its like to be an artist?! Im gonna be ta...

01/11/2023

Need to edit a document or a book? Watch my quick tutorial on how to edit and proofread in Microsoft Word.

I show you how to edit and proofread in a Microsoft Word document using Track Changes. Allow your client to see the changes you've made and to accept or reje...

26/09/2023

A noble mission. ⚔️

Source: Ace_Librarian7 via Twitter

26/09/2023

Get the core skills and technical knowledge to work as a copy editor or proofreader

23/09/2023

Why is it feeling so tough to be a human these days?

I can't think of anyone who has been left unaffected by the cost of living crisis or political instability or the general state of disruption that has come to mark our world.

In times like this it's easy to feel that creativity and writing are luxuries that can be dispensed with. When there's a tussle between writing a novel and putting food on the table - there's a clear winner. So we eat, but life becomes empty and meaningless.

Reflecting on this conundrum I was reminded of a quote from Ernest Hemingway on the subject of writer's block. When the thought of writing a whole book seemed intimidating and out of reach, he would remind himself that all he had to do was sit and write one true sentence and then take it from there. He knew he could always find one true thing to say - even if it was to record what someone else had said or some fact that he knew to be true.

What this means for me is that on some days, our most heroic act might simply be to get out of bed. After that, we might write that one true sentence, or go for a walk or have a heartfelt conversation with someone. There is always one true step we can take in this moment. Sometimes that will lead to something more, but it is also OK that nothing happens because then we just face the moment and enquire again about the one true thing we can do in this moment.

This is now my expanded definition of what it means to live artistically and creatively. If writing a story or painting a picture feels like a long shot right now - give yourself permission to let it go and do the one true thing that is within your reach, no matter how humble or seemingly insignificant. Reduce your ambitions to the single action or thought that feels true in this moment. Do that. Then do the next true thing. In this way you will be living your art, and meaning will filter back slowly and tenderly into your life.

14/09/2023

Want my complete fiction writing course absolutely free? If you've wondered about writing a book but haven't known where to begin, this course will take you step by step through the writing and planning process. Get it now with this limited time 100% discount coupon.

If you are looking for an all-in-one, basic to intermediate course for learning the techniques of story planning and writing then course we have brought to you is it. With Our Exclusive Coup...

01/09/2023

Add an extra income stream by becoming an editor and proofreader. My article on how to become an editor in South Africa. (Specifics on become an editor in the UK to follow shortly)

You can become an editor and proofreader in SA without a degree or experience if you take the right courses. Find out about top-rated courses for every budget.

08/08/2023

If you can write, you can edit. So why not make editing and proofreading an extra income stream to support your writing? I am giving away 100 places on my brand new Udemy course "Become an Editor and Proofreader (even if you suck at grammar!)". It will teach you everything you need to know to get started as an editor. Just click the link and sign up.

Get the core skills and technical knowledge to work as a copy editor or proofreader

26/07/2023

This poem by sets me thinking about the creative darkness in relationships.

When we meet, we show each other the light side. The happy, outgoing, fun and so well-adjusted side. Then later, probably just after we have shacked up or gotten married, the masks begin to slip. No, no - you must put that mask back on! I see that thing down there with a tail. What else lives there?

What lives down here is my fears, my deep longings, my ruined ambitions. What lives here is the suspicion that I am way more sexually interesting than I can let on to you or to myself.

Will you shut me down (though I see your darkness too) or shall we look at this together? Shall we make a safe place to let the danger out?

If your man displays weakness, do not open his guts with the knife of your disdain. If your woman expresses desire for another, do not shame her. Sit together, face to face, in the trembling of this exposure. This is the dance.

Once the demons have spoken, they might not need to enact themselves in the world. Maybe what she was really longing for was to be touched intimately by your presence, to be understood deeper than she understands herself. She wanted that in you which was born with this courage. And now you know.

Not all demons are worthy of the dance. See those ones called Narcissism and Addiction and Abuse and Hungry Ghost (the one who looks alive but whose heart is turned to stone). See these ones and others of their tribe? There is nothing you can give them. They don't want a space of sharing, they want all your space. They don't want your love, they want your soul. They don't want to dance with you, they want you dead.

Know when to draw a line and walk away.

15/06/2023

"The story is crystal clear in my mind," the writing student told me. "But when I try to write it down I spend hours obsessing over the expression. I can't continue until the sentence is perfect. What can I do to stop this?"

When I heard this I had a huge moment of recognition - it was like he was describing my own writing process. I love beautiful, atmospheric writing. It's the reason why I write after all - to create an immersive experience for the reader. But now I know it is a form of writer's block that will trip me up if I let it take control.
My new article outlines 7 strategies to help you break through the perfectionist track and get the story written.

Spending too much time polishing your text is a form of writer's block and perfectionism. Get the words flowing with these 7 strategies.