View All Posts of Shelley Bowers

So, you fancy writing articles and you know that they are one of the quickest ways to get published, but where do you start? Well, if you Google writing articles, you are no doubt going to be presented with a list of what are commonly known as content mills, which are places where you can, generally, find low paying jobs. Here's an article wit...

Let's be honest, writing can be a lonely business. You'll probably spend many hours sat at your desk, or wherever, researching and writing by yourself. Some people cope with this fine, others not so well. If you fall into the latter category, here are some ideas for connecting with other like-minded individuals. Writers RetreatsA good way to g...

Now that our new Writing Fiction for Children course is up and running, I thought I'd offer up some ideas on finding publishers for children's writing. Market research is a term that can send perfectly rational people into a panic. Where do I start? Who do I contact? How do I know if they pay for submissions? These are just some of the questio...

So, you've enrolled onto one of our courses, you're working your way through and you realise you need to carry out some research. Maybe you're writing a medical drama or a crime thriller and you want it to be as authentic as possible, which means getting the little details right. Why is this important? Well, if you want to convince someone tha...

Writing fiction for children is one of those genres that plenty of people think is easy. It can't be that hard to throw a few words together for kids, right? Wrong! It's one of the trickiest genres to write, that's why we've just launched a wonderful new course - Writing Fiction for Children - just for you! But, before you get as far as writin...

Does the name Hanif Kureshi mean anything to you? Well, if you've not heard already, he caused a bit of a scandal at the recent Bath Literary Festival, and a huge media storm, after commenting that writing courses are a waste of time. Why is it a scandal? He's entitled to his opinion isn't he? Yes, of course he is, but I would have thought that ...

We've got a new course and as the title of this blog suggests, it's for those wishing to learn how to write short stories and it's perfect for beginners. So, what do you write stories about once you've enrolled? Well, inspiration can come from all over. Here are a few suggestions to help you on your way:People watch - this is one of my favourit...

I realise that summer seems like a long way off, but this really is the time you should be thinking about proposing your travel articles for publication in the warmer months. And, remember you don't have to go anywhere to write travel articles - simply find somewhere of interest nearby and write about that. And to help you along, here are five top ...

You may think that you don't need to write reports, but if you look at the Oxford English Dictionary definition, which is that a report is "a statement of the results of an investigation or of any matter on which definite information is required," you'll realise that reports are used in all kinds of situations. In fact, you probably read report...

So you're doing the Article Writing Course, how's it going? If it's going well, you'll already have some idea of what you'd like to write about and who you want to write for. But, have you thought about finding work online? If not, you really should. Why? Because there are, literally, hundreds of places you can apply for work, in the UK and ov...