Competitions

Entering competitions are good for three reasons. 1. You will be forced to edit your work rigourously, check spellings and punctuation. 2. The deadline is immutable, and you have to stop. 3. Getting placed, even a commended or highly commended is good for the writing CV.

Characters on track

It’s important to make sure your characters don’t act in ways that make your readers lose sympathy with them. It is not always easy to identify but they certainly will feel something is not quite right. You can pre-empt this by asking, would my character really do that/say this?

Character is everything

How well do you know your characters? The answer should be - better than myself. Certainly your protagonist must feel as real as your best friend. The best novels have unforgettable people, sometimes doing ordinary things sometimes not, but creating the 'being in their skin' feeling is every writer's goal.

The dreaded synopsis

I've just run a workshop for the Society of Women Writers and Journalists (SWWJ) on synopses and submissions. I contacted 21 agents and politely asked for copies of synopses that worked. A long shot I grant you, but three did reply - not with examples but advice. Tina Foster's reply was full of tips, but Leslie Gardner said 'a synopsis is not what sells a book – the narrative does'.