Five Top Tips (with exercises) to Transform Your Rough Draft by Sara Grant - Women's Prize
Thanks to The Womenβs Prize Trust for inviting me share my top 5 tips to transform your rough draft as part of its Writersβ Toolkit. Lots of great advice from other writers on the site. Check it out!
womensprize.com/five-top-tip...
11.09.2025 10:52 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Congrats to @storymix.bsky.social for the launch of OXFORD BLOOD. Murder at Oxford Interview week. Itβs a great read!
02.09.2025 05:25 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
kermit the frog is standing in front of a red curtain and says " 1 week left "
ALT: kermit the frog is standing in front of a red curtain and says " 1 week left "
Entries for @uvcompetition.bsky.social close one week today!
Winners will be published in the #UV26 anthology and introduced to agents and editors at the exclusive launch party.
Don't miss this incredible chance to launch your #kidlit careerπ
undiscoveredvoices.com
01.09.2025 20:25 β π 5 π 4 π¬ 0 π 1
Edit Your Work to Enhance Voice with Sara Grant
Hone your novelβs voice with expert tips and exercises from author and editor Sara Grant.
SCBWI EU is offering an online workshop on Voice given by yours truly on Fri 26 Sept. (Be aware the listed time is for Amsterdam.) Itβs a practical discussion on voice with exercises to help you uncover and enhance the voice of your work-in-progress.
Details are here:
www.scbwi.org/events/editi...
31.08.2025 15:34 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
** One month to go** to get your entries into Undiscovered Voices - the best competition around for unpublished, unagented kidlit and YA writers (okay, we might be slightly biased...)
We can't wait to read your manuscripts π
undiscoveredvoices.com
08.08.2025 21:27 β π 1 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
Just found these! Paper pens that are perfect to be tucked into a book so I can make notes in the margins. Yes, I write in books. Iβm always dissecting the books Iβm reading to figure out how the author creates magic on the page β and how I can learn to do the same.
16.07.2025 14:33 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
** Submissions OPEN ** π₯³
If you're a #KidLit writer in the UK/Europe, #UV26 could be your big break. The anthology has launched 100s of writers' careers - will you be next?
Find out more and enterπ
undiscoveredvoices.com
Entries close: 8 September 2025
@scbwi-bi.bsky.social
03.07.2025 11:26 β π 14 π 12 π¬ 2 π 6
I got my very first long listing and much need confidence boost from Undiscovered Voices! It is such a great competition, and definitely worth checking out if you write kids books!
03.07.2025 14:17 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Absolutely buzzing with excitement for George Kirkβs debut picture book BESSIEβS BEES!
03.07.2025 16:04 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Submissions open today for the 10th Undiscovered Voices! If you are an unagented and unpublished SCBWI member in the UK or EU you should check it. The anthology has launched the writing careers of hundreds of writers. Canβt wait to see who we will discover! @uvcompetition.bsky.social
03.07.2025 08:53 β π 5 π 4 π¬ 0 π 1
Weβre so excited to be sharing the cover of DEAD
YARD: SEEDS OF DOOM, the first in a spook-tastic
new horror middle grade series inspired by Caribbean
folklore by P.J. Kilburn π¬
π¨ Cover Art Markia Jenai
β¨ Cover Design Kimberley Chen
π Available to request on Netgalley!
Coming September 2025!
01.07.2025 11:21 β π 3 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
a checklist with three check marks and a pencil on it
ALT: a checklist with three check marks and a pencil on it
Submissions open NEXT WEEK for #UV26 - how's your manuscript looking?
Our amazing co-founder, author and editing guru @authorsaragrant.bsky.social has put together this helpful checklist to help decide if you're submission ready π
undiscoveredvoices.com/news/checkli...
@scbwi-bi.bsky.social
24.06.2025 18:41 β π 5 π 5 π¬ 0 π 1
Thanks, Amber!
25.06.2025 08:59 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
β¬οΈ If youβre writing a novel THIS is the book you need once you have a first draft. Nobody understands editing and getting to the heart of a story better than Sara Grant. Written with authority and warmth and out now! @authorsaragrant.bsky.social ππ»ππ»ππ»
21.06.2025 09:16 β π 5 π 3 π¬ 0 π 1
Thanks, Sue!!
21.06.2025 16:09 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Top tip: read books in the same genre & for the same age reader as your work-in-progress. The more you fill your brain with great writing, the more likely you are to produce it. What are you reading for inspiration?
21.06.2025 09:24 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Spotted the word 'theme' scribbled on an Underground train so thought I'd share this John Gardner quote from On Becoming a Novelist: βTheme is like the floors and structural supports in a fine old mansion, indispensable but not, as a general rule, what takes the readerβs breath away.β
20.06.2025 09:16 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Can't believe it!πIt's publication day for THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EDITING YOUR NOVEL.π75 exercises & interrogations. A practical, step-by-step guide to make your novel submission ready. Thanks to the team at Bloomsbury's Writers' & Artists' for being great publishers & lovely people.
19.06.2025 09:15 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Tomorrow THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EDITING YOUR NOVEL is published. Here are a few ideas to tighten your writing. These were collected over years of giving my editing workshop. I asked writers for common errors & pet peeves. What would you add to this list? www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/tight...
18.06.2025 13:10 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 1
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EDITING YOUR NOVEL is out tomorrow! Here's a little pop quiz for your work-in-progress. I use it as a diagnostic tool to identify any plot problems. Hope you find it useful! www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/solut...
18.06.2025 08:22 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
π±A vandalised lucky money plant.
πͺAn ancient Chinese coin.
π―ββοΈTwo best pals.
πOne annoying sidekick.
Stir them upβ¦andβ¦you get:
βοΈThe launch of The Lucky House Detective AgencyβοΈ
Scarlett Li, with pics by Sian James.
A @storymix.bsky.social production; pubβd by @knightsofbooks.bsky.social
28.05.2025 12:29 β π 4 π 3 π¬ 1 π 0
To celebrate the publication of THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EDITING YOUR NOVEL this week: Here's an extract from the book that offers a series of questions to ask about your work-in-progress. Your answers may point out big picture issues you need to address. www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/big-p...
17.06.2025 11:07 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
A quick test for your work-in-progress. Search for a free word cloud generator. Cut & paste your draft into it. This snapshot of your story can point out what words you overuse & what characters get the most air time. Do the words give the right impression of your story?
03.06.2025 10:06 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
** Sign up by midnight for a chance to win one of these two fantastic new books on perfecting your writing craft **
Three 90min masterclasses for just Β£30 for @scbwi.bsky.social members; Β£40 for non-members.
@authorsaragrant.bsky.social @sheilamaverbuch.bsky.social @scbwi-bi.bsky.social
#UV26
31.05.2025 09:08 β π 2 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
Final call for my critique giveaway, celebrating the launch of THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EDITING YOUR NOVEL -- my step-by-step guide to make your rough draft submissions ready. Follow & repost for the chance to win a critique of the 1st 2,000 words of your novel. Winner selected 3 June.
30.05.2025 10:16 β π 0 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
One week until the first #UV26 online masterclass π₯³
Just Β£30 for @scbwi.bsky.social members for three fab workshops = top tips for competition success
Register at tinyurl.com/4tjm6m9r by 31/05 for chance to win a writing craft book by @authorsaragrant.bsky.social or @sheilamaverbuch.bsky.social π
29.05.2025 19:27 β π 4 π 3 π¬ 0 π 2
When Iβm editing, I love to go old school & print out my manuscript. I need loads of colourful pens and highlighters for a variety of exercises I use to dissect and rebuild by draft. I just picked up new editing supplies ...
29.05.2025 10:33 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Fiction-only book discovery platform.
Authors: List your novel.
Readers: Explore stories worth reading.
No noise. Just novels.
π greatnovelreads.com
Books (reading and writing) *Winner WriteMentorAwards 25 | Highly Commended Yeovil 24 | SL Wells 24 | SL Guppy 2023 | Honorary Mention UV2024* @TheGEAcademy alumni. Ex-lawyer. Music teacher πΆ
The free directory of UK children's authors, poets & illustrators offering #VirtualAuthorVisits to schools at https://virtualauthors.co.uk/
(managed by @loutreleaven)
Writer. Editor. Killer of plants.
MA in Creative Writing
Website: https://pattibuff.wordpress.com
Agent: Hannah Sheppard of HS Literary https://hs-la.com
Current location: Disgustingly Beautiful Bavaria
#BLM She/Her
Author, illustrator & nature photographer.
#SCBWI | #12x12PB | #PBChat '21 mentee
Rep'd by Elisa Houot at The Seymour Agency
A celebration of the crime and thriller genre. π 13th - 14th June 2025. Info@capitalcrime.org Tickets on sale now: capitalcrime.org
AK writer, illustrator, poet, teacher, SCBWI & 12x12 member, & PB enthusiast. AK SCBWI IC. (Opinions my own); PB debut, KAUAI'S CALL (Island Heritage, May 2024)
All of these contests give you 3 options to submit: Full Novel; 1st Chapter; Performance video readings.
https://festivalreviews.org/daily-novel-festival-contests/
π«DMs - writer, contemporary fiction
Cheese lover, animal/nature admirer, movie & anime lover, loves music. I love writing children's and ya books. Children's lyricist and composer. Children's Musicals.
NO CHAT UNLESS I KNOW YOU
BULLIES OUT
IF YOU COPY MY LINKS BOOK HASHTAGS please.
Writer of childrenβs historical fiction.
The Great Bear Breakout coming Feb 2026. The White Phoenix (highly commended for HA Young Quills Award) set in Great Fire of London. Tour guide. Member of CWISL and Society of Authors. Very enthusiastic. βοΈ πΆπΎ
Published author and illustrator of Mo's Best Friend A Stone Age Story, You Me and Our Whole Wide World and more... all-round bilingual lover of words, paint and scribbles
Create and share social media content anywhere, consistently.
Built with π by a global, remote team.
β¬οΈ Learn more about Buffer & Bluesky
https://buffer.com/bluesky
Teacher, writer, lover of books, travel and lovely food
YA debut A BEAUTIFUL, TERRIBLE THING @dfbstoryhouse.bsky.social Oct 25 . writer & editor . fiction & nonfiction . lover of wilderness, kindness & sunshine . winner DFB Search for a Storyteller 24 & Wells Fest of Lit Book for Children 23 . RLF Fellow 24-26
β¨Middle grade writer
πββ¬Cat mom
Author, Ph.D. Ed. Leadership & longtime teacher, esp. reading disabilities. Blogging for Kids, Teachers, Parents & Democratic Public Schools for ALL at nancyebailey.com. Save public schools!