I have been talking about plot and structure in stories this week. A compelling story isn’t just a collection of moments, it’s a sequence of choices and consequences, and connections that build into something meaningful.
 
Plot is what happens. Structure is how those events are shaped and revealed to the reader. When the two work together, the story feels inevitable and like it could only unfold this way. It changes the narrative from simply "this happened, then this happened, then that happened", and turns it into something engaging. It then becomes "this happened because that happened earlier, and now as a result of this, the following happens" – it all links together in a pleasing and satisfying way.
 
One of the simplest ways to strengthen your plot is to look at cause and effect. Each moment should lead naturally to the next. If a scene could be lifted out without changing anything, it may not be doing enough work.
 
Structure helps you control pacing and impact. Where you begin, where you place your turning points, and how you build toward the ending all shape the reader’s experience. Even subtle shifts you make in an edit, like moving a reveal or tightening a sequence, can make a big difference.
 
It’s also worth paying attention to your key moments. Are the turning points clear? Do they challenge your character in meaningful ways? Do they push the story forward? Readers don’t want your character to have an easy time of it. You don’t need to have them chased by lions, or massive boulders like Indiana Jones, but they need to get a little hot under the collar at times.
 
A strong plot doesn’t feel forced, and a strong structure doesn’t feel visible, but both are quietly doing the work underneath.
 
Do you tend to plan your plot and structure in advance, or discover it as you go? Let me know in the comments.
 
If you would like to work with me you can find a link to my events and courses in the menu bar above. And there are also testimonials about my editing work. Have a look around. 
 
I can be with you at both ends of your publishing journey, with a novel course due to start in June, and editing services available to you for short stories and novels. I would love to hear from you.

Of all the parts of a story, the middle is where things most often begin to loosen. The energy of the opening has settled, and the ending is still out of reach so it can be tempting to drift. But the middle isn’t empty space to cross. You should ideally be treating it as if it’s where the story deepens and earns what comes next.
 
One of the simplest ways to strengthen it is to look at tension. Not necessarily big, dramatic events, but a steady sense of pressure. What does your character want now? What’s getting in their way? If nothing is pushing against them, the story can begin to sag.
 
Momentum comes from cause and effect. Each moment should lead to the next, even in small ways. A choice, a reaction, a shift… these keep the story moving forward and give the reader a reason to stay.
 
This is also where character has room to grow. Let them struggle a little longer. Let them make mistakes. Let them misunderstand things, or choose badly, or hesitate when it matters. Conflict doesn’t always have to be loud to be powerful. It just needs to matter and have meaning.
 
And it’s worth looking closely at your scenes. Are they doing something: moving the story on, revealing something new, increasing the stakes? If not, they may need to be sharpened, combined, or let go. We have all heard the phrase “kill your darlings”. Editing out words that cause lag – no matter how much you love them (put them in a “reuse” file) – is the most important and valuable thing you can do for your writing.
 
A strong middle doesn’t draw attention to itself, but you feel it working. It holds the story together and carries the reader, almost without them noticing, towards the ending.
 
Which part of writing do you find hardest? The beginning, the middle, or the end? Let me know in the comments. I hope you have been enjoying my ramblings about writing craft, which I hope to continue doing daily with more in depth weekly posts like these too.
 
If you have a story (flash or short) or a novel manuscript that needs editing, please consider me for the job. I have lots of experience, both for WestWord and more recently for Fiction Factory, who I complete competition entry assessments for (both short story and novel first chapters). I have worked personally with several authors to get their manuscripts ready for publication. You can find some endorsements for my work at the button below, and you can also explore the rest of my website to see the stories I’ve had published, and to book for any of my courses or events.

I can’t believe it’s the end of another week. I committed to writing at least one writing craft blog post per week, and it seems to come around so quickly. I hope you have all had a productive writing week. Mine has been here and there… I have been trying to find some stories suitable for sending to the National Flash Fiction Day Flash Flood, and then, hey presto – some rejections came in this week, so I will probably send those! Ha ha. You can take part in the Flash Flood, which posts a story every few minutes on June 13th, by visiting the site at the button below and following their guidelines.

So… onto the craft part of this post. I am posting one short writing related social media post every day (that’s the plan anyway, barring anything getting in the way, or me forgetting, LOL), and from those posts I sum up at the end of the week. So.. this week has been all about beginnings, so let’s get on with it. By the way, if you are interested in any workshops I do, or in hiring me as a mentor, then you can click on the menu buttons at the top of the page here, have a little look around, read my stories, and then visit my bookings page. I would love to work with you.
 
How to Write a Beginning that Hooks Your Reader
A strong beginning doesn’t just start a story; it makes a promise to the reader that their time will be well spent. The key is to draw them in to the world your characters inhabit without overwhelming them, offering just enough to spark curiosity while leaving space for questions to grow.
 
One of the most important decisions is where to begin. Often, the best opening isn’t the earliest moment in the timeline, but the moment where something shifts, where tension, change, or uncertainty is already in motion. Starting too early can dilute the energy whereas starting at the point of movement gives the story immediate life. All the details you want the reader to know about the backstory can be woven into the current moment timeline.
 
Intrigue comes from what’s withheld as much as what’s revealed. A reader doesn’t need to understand everything straight away. In fact, they shouldn’t. A carefully chosen detail, a hint of conflict, or a question left hanging can be far more compelling than a flood of explanation. Avoid info dump as much as possible. It’s tempting to begin with background, and to over-explain, but this can slow the story before it’s even begun. Info-dumping and throat-clearing often push the real story further down the page. Instead, aim to begin with something active or evocative, allowing context to emerge naturally as the story unfolds.
 
The opening lines are where the reader learns the tone and voice of your story. Whether the voice is lyrical, spare, intimate, or distant, those first sentences set the emotional and stylistic expectations. A clear, confident voice invites trust and encourages the reader to settle in.
 
Tell me, what’s your favourite opening line from your own work or someone else’s? I would love you to let me know in the comments. Also, if there is any aspect of writing you would like me to cover in future posts or blogs, then do let me know. And finally, if you are not already a subscriber to my monthly newsletter (which will occasionally be more than once if I have anything to let you know about) then click on the button below and hit subscribe.

This week in my daily social media posts I have been focusing on dialogue. Dialogue is often where a story comes alive, but it’s also where it can lose its power. One of the most common arguments is whether good dialogue should sound like real conversation. It would be nice to think we could be so authentic and get away with it. It can work, up to a point. But, in reality, everyday speech is full of filler, repetition, and drift. On the page, that can quickly become tedious and annoying. Personally speaking, just as I hate to hear those people who say “So I was like, and he was like, and I, like did this…” so I don’t want to read it on a page. Getting the balance right is essential, so authenticity is at the heart of your dialogue without making your readers want to rip their ears out!
 
Effective dialogue is shaped. It gives the illusion of realism while being far more focused and intentional.
 
A useful place to start is by cutting the lead-in. Skip the greetings, the polite exchanges, the small talk. Begin where something is at stake. When characters speak because they need to, the scene immediately gains energy.
 
It’s also worth paying attention to what isn’t said. Subtext - the meaning beneath the words - can transform even a simple exchange. A character might deflect, avoid, or answer a different question altogether. These gaps invite the reader to lean in and interpret.
 
At the same time, dialogue can carry more of the story than we often allow it to. There’s a tendency to over-explain, adding extra description or internal thought to make sure everything is clear. But this can dilute the impact. When dialogue is working well, it can reveal character, build tension, and move the story forward, all on its own.
 
Conflict, even in subtle form, is key. Characters rarely want exactly the same thing, and that slight misalignment creates movement. One pushes, another resists. One speaks plainly, another circles the truth. This friction gives dialogue its life.
 
For fun – write a scene of dialogue where one person is talking about one thing, and another something completely different during a conversation. Let it be a while before they (or even the reader) realise. I would love to read what you come up with, so please feel free to post it in the comments.

Point of view is one of the most influential and important decisions we make when we come to write our stories and novels. It determines not just who tells the story, but how that story is experienced. It tells the reader what is seen, what is hidden, and what is felt.
 
It’s tempting to choose a familiar perspective, but it’s worth asking who is the best person to tell this story? Often, the answer isn’t the most obvious character, even to you, but the one with the most at stake, or the one who misunderstands events in a revealing way.
 
Point of view also shapes distance. A close perspective can pull us tightly into a character’s thoughts and emotions, creating intimacy. A more distant one allows for space, reflection, and a broader view of events. Neither is better; each offers different possibilities.
 
What matters is consistency and clarity. When a point of view slips unintentionally, it can break the reader’s immersion in the story – and there is nothing worse than being “pulled out of” a story. I hear and see people say that all the time in book reviews. But when a point of view shift is controlled, it becomes a powerful filter. Everything - the setting, the dialogue, even the smallest detail - is shaped by the perspective through which it’s seen.
 
But it is also true that limitation can be a strength. What a narrator doesn’t know, or chooses not to reveal, can create tension and depth. Sometimes, what’s left unsaid carries as much weight as what’s on the page.
 
Have you ever changed the point of view in a piece of writing? What difference did it make?
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Try this exercise: Rewrite a scene you are working on from a different point of view. Notice how not just the details change, but the tone, the emphasis, even the meaning of the scene itself.
 
Let me know in the comments on this post what you think, and what happened when you did the exercise.
 
Until next time
 
Happy scribbling!

I have had quite a good week this week and I will be going into that some more in a Substack newsletter coming on 1st April so lookout for that. You can sign up for my newsletter by clicking on the button below, and this will ensure you get all my news and information about upcoming workshops and courses. I will make sure you don’t miss a thing.

In my daily social posts this week, I have been talking about setting. Setting is often treated as background; something to sketch in before the story gets going. But in stronger writing, setting isn’t something the story sits on. It’s something the story grows out of.

Place shapes behaviour. A conversation in a quiet library unfolds differently from one in a crowded café. I know I am a different person in each of those places – in truth, I am probably more unpredictable in the quiet setting. Lots of people are like that, noisy when they are supposed to be quiet, and quiet when they are allowed to be noisy! A character returning to their childhood home will notice things a stranger wouldn’t. Setting is never neutral; it’s always influencing what happens.

This means we don’t need to describe everything when we are writing a scene in a story. Instead, we should focus on what matters in the moment. What does your character notice first? What do they avoid? Which detail carries emotional weight?
Setting can also do the work of emotion. Rather than explaining how a character feels, let the environment reveal it. A cluttered room is maybe the sign of a mind too over-crowded and pre-occupied. A too-bright kitchen might indicate a character is over-compensating for something dark in their life. A long empty road might be a metaphor for a difficult journey or truth a character has to face. Filter everything through perspective, because no two characters experience the same place in the same way.

And don’t forget that setting can shift. Light fades, weather turns, a space empties. These changes can mirror or even drive what’s happening within the scene. The key is restraint. A few precise details will always carry more power than a full inventory.

Take one of your scenes. What single detail could you change or add to make the setting more meaningful? This will work if you are stuck and finding it hard to just put words down. Take a breath, do this exercise (let’s call it for fun!) and see what comes out. Let me know in the comments what you discovered and whether it helped you.

​Until next time, Happy Scribbling! 

​Weekends really come around fast these days – there is hardly enough time to do anything. I have had another couple of nice story acceptances though, more details of which I will post in due course when I get around to updating my story page on this website. You can read all the stories I have so far using the menu above.

Before I talk about Writers Reading on Thursday night, I just wanted to talk briefly about characters in stories, since that has been my theme this week on my social media posts.

Characters are far more interesting if you give them contradictions. No one is all good, or all bad. Think of the characters you love in books, films and even in real life. That woman who brings you cakes every week might also be fiddling her taxes. The man who sells weed from his flat might also be looking after a sick loved one. Giving your characters layers makes them multi-dimensional and more believable as people (and more interesting to go on a journey through your story or novel with).

Give them some meaningful backstory, but don’t dump a lot of info on the reader. We don’t need to know their whole life story from birth until now, but maybe a reference to a job they really loved but were fired from, or a bad relationship that hurt as it broke up might explain why they are cynical and maybe aggressive now. 

Reveal their character through the decisions they make. A person who is a health fiend, but who chooses the biggest cream cake on the plate might be displaying an inner struggle, or a "sod it" attitude, and your reader will want to know why.

Think about a character you are writing about currently. What is one contradiction that makes them interesting? Let me know in the comments box – maybe we can start a discussion.

WRITERS READING – Thursday 19th March

I want to thank everyone who came on Thursday to support the readers, who were all absolutely fabulous. Despite some technical and sound issues – and our featured reader dropping out permanently because of a massive outage where she lives in Chile – we had an amazing night as always. You can watch the video at the link below and can choose which view you watch in. 

Juanita Ozamiz, the planned featured reader, will be back next time, on June 18th, so book your ticket now at the link below, to ensure you don't miss her!

Until next time, happy scribbling.

I trust everyone’s week has started well. We just had Mothers’ Day in the UK so I had my mum and brothers over and a total day off writing or even thinking about it. 

I got right back to work yesterday updating my submissions spreadsheet – I am up to 75 submissions this year so am well on target. I will be sharing my few successes with you soon on this website. Just as soon as Writers Reading is out of the way this week. Don’t forget it is on Thursday 19th at 7pm UK time on Zoom. You can click on the button below to go to the ticket link – it is free but I just need to know you are coming so you need to register.

My head has been firmly in novel mode lately. As well as writing my own novel, I am working on some first chapter and synopsis assessments for writers who have entered a competition. I really love this kind of work. It can be enormously helpful to look at how some people write novels (particularly the beginning) well, and how some do it not so well. 

The difference between the good and the bad ones is almost always down to the character that is introduced and the way in which they are introduced. I want to know right away whose story I am about to read, and why I am going to find it both important and entertaining. If everything is vague and I don’t know what their motivation is, then I don’t have any motivation of my own to continue. 

Desire drives story. It’s what keeps readers turning the pages. And, whilst you don’t have to reveal deep desires right away, you do have to give the character something to want on every page, so the reader is aware of it and can either get behind them, or set against them – but in both cases care whether they get it or not.

Getting to an important meeting on time; receiving a phone call with anticipated news; or, as Kurt Vonnegut suggests, even something as simple as a drink of water. 
What comes next is you putting obstacles in the way, but that’s for another time. For now, character is key. 

You can explore who you character is and what they might want by asking these three questions – of them, not yourself. 1. What do you want right now. 2. What are you afraid might happen. 3. What would you never admit out loud.

Try it, and if you like, you can post the answers you come up with – or just tell me if the exercise unearthed anything interesting – in the comments below.

I would also be interested to know if, when you are writing, your character arrives fully formed, or if you discover them as you write? 

If you want to delve deeper into an idea you might have for a novel, I am running a 6- Zoom course (one every 2 weeks)  called “Grow Your Novel” – and the booking link is below. It starts on June 13th and all the sessions will be Saturday 3pm to 4pm.
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Thanks for reading.

Another week has started and we are fully into March now. Mothers’ Day at the end of this week, then the next thing to look forward to is the springing forward of clocks which takes us firmly into spring and towards summer – always a happy time for me.

The first thing I did this week was take stock of my submissions so far this year… I have sent out 71, had 2 acceptances, 30 declines, and still have 39 out there. There are some stories out from last year too, but I am not counting them as I am only counting this year’s. As you can see, the declines way outnumber the acceptances, but I would never have had the acceptance if I had not started subbing. So it’s a necessary evil.

I have been looking at my folder where I keep all my new an “in development” stories and it is looking rather empty, so I need to get started on that. I have a project in mind (aside from the novel I am trying to get finished) that will require a certain degree of soul and memory searching. That’s always a daunting thing. But as I have been saying in my posts, you need to be honest in order to create an authentic story.
 
Honesty creates the strongest writing, because it will sound and feel real. Don’t worry about revealing too much of yourself. Honesty and confession are two different things, and to be honest doesn’t mean you have to reveal your own deepest, darkest secrets. Skew and warp those moments from your life and give your reaction and emotions around them to a character, who can deal with it the same way you did, or in a different way. And, start with small truths instead of big, dramatic ones.

Try this exercise (and you can post the result in the comments): Write one paragraph about something ordinary that happened today, but write it truthfully.

And a question to leave you with (again, you can put the answer in the comments): Do you find it easier to write honestly about small moments or big experiences?