RSSCategory: How To and Tips

Five Things Grief Taught me about Writing

Five Things Grief Taught me about Writing

Five Things Grief Taught me about Writing When grief hits you, it brings along with it a plethora of emotions. Someone, a well-intentioned person, said to me the other day, “Grief goes away in some time. You should write a book on happiness.” I smiled, “I am glad you have theoretical knowledge, not the practical […]

March 19, 2024 | By | Reply More
How To Approach Researching Historical Fiction

How To Approach Researching Historical Fiction

How To Approach Researching Historical Fiction “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” When I first embarked on my debut novel THE TOWER, I wasn’t thinking of L. P. Hartley’s famous opening line of The Go-Between. But when I reflected on my first early stages of research and writing, I realised […]

March 7, 2024 | By | Reply More
How to Create Adult Characters in Young Adult Fiction

How to Create Adult Characters in Young Adult Fiction

How to Create Adult Characters in Young Adult Fiction Young Adult (YA) literature isn’t only for young adults. A 2023 study by WordsRated indicates that 51% of book purchases in the YA category are by those who are between 30 and 44 years old, and 78% of those buyers plan to read the book(s) themselves.  […]

February 26, 2024 | By | Reply More
HOW TO WRITE UNLIKEABLE CHARACTERS YOUR READERS WILL LOVE

HOW TO WRITE UNLIKEABLE CHARACTERS YOUR READERS WILL LOVE

HOW TO WRITE UNLIKEABLE CHARACTERS YOUR READERS WILL LOVE When I wrote my first novel at the age of twenty-three, I really thought I had the whole writing thing nailed. Oh the naivety! You can imagine the shock I felt then, when an editorial company told me in no uncertain terms that my book was […]

February 23, 2024 | By | Reply More
Writing tips: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough

Writing tips: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough

Writing tips: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough KI was writing and submitting for years – finished nine complete novels! – before I got published. Since then, I’ve had fourteen young adult novels published and my shiny new thing is a psychological thriller for adults, The Patient, out with Bookouture 13th February […]

February 13, 2024 | By | Reply More
Why is Book Marketing So Damn Hard?

Why is Book Marketing So Damn Hard?

Why is Book Marketing So Damn Hard? I offer a marketing mastermind for writers, called 12 weeks to Book Launch Success. In this group program, I guide novelists and memoir writers to develop a successful launch plan for their book. (If this sounds interesting, more details at the end!) Before developing my program, I interviewed […]

February 8, 2024 | By | Reply More
How to Write Outside Your Cultural Experience Without Harm

How to Write Outside Your Cultural Experience Without Harm

How to Write Outside Your Cultural Experience Without Harm By Paulette Stout As writers, we have great latitude when choosing what we create. And with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at the forefront for many in the creative community, our instinct should rightly be to answer the call in our work. But writing outside our […]

February 6, 2024 | By | Reply More
Thoughts and Tips for Aspiring and Debut Authors

Thoughts and Tips for Aspiring and Debut Authors

Before publishing my novel, THERE ARE NO RULES FOR THIS in May, I had been either writing it, editing it, proofreading it, or getting it ready for prime time in some way for over 8 years. So, while I am only newly on the other side of publication, I have some thoughts and tips for […]

January 21, 2024 | By | Reply More
Striving for Imperfection, Seeking Perseverance

Striving for Imperfection, Seeking Perseverance

Striving for Imperfection, Seeking Perseverance. I’ve posted before about the writing retreats in France I co-facilitate with agent extraordinaire, April Eberhardt. Since I was first asked to teach in France I’ve been trying to learn French via Duolingo. A little bit every day for the past 18 or so months. I may not be able […]

January 5, 2024 | By | Reply More
THE WRITER’S GARDEN by Heather Mateus Sappenfield

THE WRITER’S GARDEN by Heather Mateus Sappenfield

THE WRITER’S GARDEN by Heather Mateus Sappenfield What are the seeds of your narratives? Are they concepts? Problems? Themes? With three novels and one short story collection under my belt, I’ve learned that my narratives usually arise from things I witness. Things about our humanity that leave a deep impression. After that initial impression, they […]

January 5, 2024 | By | Reply More