The Creative Writing Blog

Claire Douglas won the Marie Claire Debut Novel Award with her first novel, The Sisters, which was followed by Local Girl Missing, Last Seen Alive, Do Not Disturb, Then She Vanishes and Just...

What are the top twenty children's fiction books? Middle Grade children's fiction author Polly Ho-Yen picks her favourite children's novels and explains why.

_{From the desk of Polly Ho-Yen.}

The best...

Have you ever read a book with a fantastic story, only to wish the dialogue was – well, a little better written?

‘The characters all sounded the same.’

‘Nobody talks like...

Ajay Chowdhury is the award-winning author of crime thrillers The Waiter and The Cook. As well as being a novelist, Ajay is a theatre director and tech entrepreneur who founded Shazam and...

Are you wondering how to open a novel? You’re not alone. It can be one of the biggest sticking points writers face – not least because it’s often what will grab (or not!) the...

Katherine Arden is the author of the Winternight trilogy that begins with The Bear and the Nightingale, "a wonderfully layered novel of family and the harsh wonders of deep winter magic" (Robin...

Our author tutor Tasha Suri is the award-winning author of The Books of Ambha duology (Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash) and the epic fantasy trilogy The Burning...

 What exactly is a book for a writer? Any work that inspires, motivates and educates can be classed as such.

The kind of craft books we connect with are deeply personal ­­–...

As you set about writing – or editing – a gripping novel, you might come up against the question of how to add tension to your story. Maybe you’ve got a great idea that packs in...

Our Founder offers some words of inspiration for writers for the year ahead with a look at: motivation, structure, planning and plotting a novel.

The last lines of the poem Lockdown by the Poet...

As a writer for children, Polly Ho-Yen often gets asked: how do you convincingly write a child character? She explains how in this blog.

Twas the day after Christmas when all through the house, old...

Stacey Halls is the author of The Familiars, which was the bestselling debut novel of 2019. Her second historical fiction novel The Foundling was published in 2020, and her...

Diana Evans is the award-winning, bestselling author of Ordinary People, The Wonder and 26a. Her prize nominations include the Guardian and Commonwealth Best First Book...

If you want an agent to represent your novel, you're going to have to write a damned good synopsis.

That's right – it's not enough to spend months of your life crafting tens of thousands...