How to plan your novel in ten steps Writing a novel and not sure where to start? Here are 10 simple steps on how to plan your novel and get you started on your writing journey.

'What’s at the heart of your novel? Start by asking yourself what story you’re trying to tell' 📓

If you’re looking for advice on how to plan your novel, here are ten steps to help you get started:

Avoid using weak pushbutton words in story Sometimes rather than finding a truly evocative term, writers get lazy and use pushbutton words. Pushbutton words attempt to evoke an emotional response from readers without appealing to their…

#campnanowrimo #writerscommunity #amwriting #wip #novella inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Writing Tip:
Feeling stuck and just can’t get words onto the page for your project? Write something else! Try writing something in a completely different genre or style. Something you’ve been wanting to try. It can help clear whatever blockage you might have.

#writing #writingtips #Booksky

Author Caroline Madden: ‘My luck turned when I created a female protagonist seething with quiet resentment’ The author of The Marriage Vendetta talks about what it takes to get published, her Jane Austen-inspired world record, and a surprisingly funny book

So thrilled to see this hitting the shelves, a brilliant story! Author Caroline Madden: ‘My luck turned when I created a female protagonist seething with quiet resentment’

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Headshot of author Lucy O'Callaghan

'Backstory helps to develop a reader’s understanding of characters and gives psychological realism to them.'

Your Character’s Backstory: Really Useful Links by Lucy O’Callaghan

www.writing.ie/resources/yo...

#writerscommunity #writingtips

Headshot of Ken Bruen

“I’m just like many other writers. As someone once said, there is terror in opening a blank screen to begin writing. I try to bite off what I know is manageable. It works for me, and I’m sure it could work for others”

Galway Crime Writer Ken Bruen 1951-2025

www.writing.ie/news/galway-...

WCLF2025 programme will be announced tomorrow, Wednesday April 3rd. We can't wait to share our plans with you.

👀 www.westcorkmusic.ie/literary-festival/

#WCLF2025

Today's writing quote: “Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.” ― Meg Cabot #writing #writingquote #quote #writinglife #writesky #writerscommunity #writing

Poster for The Insiders' Guide to Publishing for Adults with International Literature Festival Dublin

Featuring leading industry professionals, this full-day seminar at @ilfdublin.bsky.social has all you need to know about contemporary publishing for adults.

Discover what’s hot, what’s not, & how to secure your big break.

🗓️Sat 17th May '25

Booking & more:
ilfdublin.com/whats-on/fes...
#writersky

PERSON OF THE DAY. 30 March 1853. Vincent Van Gogh was born in Zundert, Netherlands. Unknown during his lifetime, he came to be regarded after his death as one of the greatest artists of all time, especially praised for his dazzling use of colour.

Sign the Petition Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training

Writers, please sign @societyofauthors.bsky.social open letter to Lisa Nandy/UK gov to make yr voices heard on #metabooktheives

If you're an aspiring author or part of the book community, this impacts you too & SoA would love you to add your voice. Please share 💙📚

www.change.org/p/protect-au...

A Week to Remember by Ruth O'Leary | Review A Week to Remember by Ruth O'Leary (Poolbeg Press) is described as 'a story of healing, betrayal, and finding courage on the Camino'.

#BookReview of #AWeekToRemember by @rutholearywrite | @PoolbegBooks | @ruthwriter.bsky.social www.swirlandthread.com/a-week-to-re... via @maireadhearne.bsky.social

✍️✍️✍️

Writing Tip:
One of the reasons we need practice readers for our work is that we all have patterns when we write, and they can become predictable. Have a friend read your writing and point out anything that repeats enough to be noticeable. This really helps!

#writing #writingtips #Booksky

Writing Tip:
If you're struggling with visualizing your scenes or world, try to draw it. Even if you're not a visual artist, just forcing yourself to visualize the space can fine-tune your scene in ways that would be impossible with it just imagining in your head.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky

Today's writing quote: "I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it." ― Toni Morrison #writing #writingquote #quote #writinglife #writingcommunity #writesky #writingcommunity #writing

Book cover of The Language of Remembering by Patrick Holloway

'I thought of all the way language shows the world who we are, how it is insufficient, how often it fails us. I wondered what would happen to an identity if language was simply taken away.'

@hollowaywriter.bsky.social author of The Language of Remembering 💙📚

Read:
www.writing.ie/interviews/t...

Writing Tip:
You're going to have doubts while you're writing, editing and revising. Those doubts never truly go away. But that doesn't mean your work is garbage. Far from it. It means you care. Push those doubts aside and just enjoy your work. It's a lot more fun.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky

Writing Tip:
Take time to just reread your own work without trying to edit it. Just read it to enjoy it. Because that is what your readers are going to be doing. Instead of nitpicking, try not to lose focus. If you still are, that might be something a reader notices.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky

Author Lucy O'Callaghan sitting down wearing a blue jacket over a blue & white print top

'Whilst research is important, it’s also essential to question ourselves in the first place. Why are we writing outside our known experience?'

Cultural Sensitivity: How to be Culturally Sensitive in your Writing by @lucyocallaghan.bsky.social

Read more:
www.writing.ie/resources/cu...

#writersky

Poster for submissions to the International Literature Festival Date With An Agent

Do you have a potential New York Times bestseller under the bed?

Calling all aspiring authors – don’t miss your chance for a Date With an Agent!

✨Application deadline: 4th April 2025✨

Read more at:
www.writing.ie/resources/da...
@ilfdublin.bsky.social #WritingCommmunity

Writing 101 tip: The word “just” is frequently used as a space-filler word without any particular meaning. In the vast majority of cases, you can delete the word “just” from any piece of writing and you’ll find that the result reads better.

The sandstorm obscures everything around you. The noon sun is a faint golden haze. And yet, despite the screaming wind, you can hear...



#writingprompt #artprompt

Today's writing quote: "I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter." - James Michener #writing #writingquote #quote #writinglife #writingcommunity #writesky

Avoid starting story with a cliché opening For writers, the challenge with most people who like to read is that they read a lot. They’ve seen all kinds of plots, protagonists, villains and settings. Worse, even if they prefer specific genre…

Avoid starting story with a cliché opening
#writingadvice #writingcommunity #amwriting #authors #5amwritersclub #DadAuthor

Word of the Day is ‘ingordigiousness’ (18th century): extreme greed at the expense of principles.

How to write short stories Award-winning novelist and short story writer Cynan Jones discusses the key elements of a short story and the important questions all short fiction writers should ask themselves about the story they…

'The more you ask questions of and assess your work, the richer you’ll be able to make your story' ✒️

Are you writing a short story? Short fiction writer, Cynan Jones, shares the questions that all short fiction writers should ask themselves about the story they want to tell...

Read the blog here:

Writing Tip:
Whenever you get an opportunity, try writing in a different genre then you're used to. Even just a short story. It not only helps expand your writing chops, but you might find that you fall in love with a genre that you otherwise would never have tried.
#writing #writingtips #Booksky

Should You Use a Pen Name for Your Book? Your name will appear all over your book – the cover, the title pages, the preface, the author’s bio, probably on a at least half of the book’s main text. So before you actually start putting …

Should you use a pen name for your book?
#amwriting #writers #author #writerscommunity #selfpublishing #writerreality

How to start writing a novel Ten top tips to get your novel going on a sure footing and to feel good about you new writing project.

Have you been mulling over a good story idea but failing to get it started? Or perhaps you're putting words down but feeling unsure of where you're headed with it? 🤯

Our founder and Starting to Write Your Novel tutor Anna Davis shares her advice on the best practices to begin writing a novel: