View All Posts of Diana Nadin

There seems to be a rash of articles in the press and various writers’ magazines bemoaning the low income that most writers have to exist on. But it still doesn’t seem to put people off wanting to write. And I don’t blame them. But many of our students are more interested in earning a part-time or second income, and this is quite feasibl...

Don’t you just hate it when writers pepper their work with exclamation marks? F Scott Fitzgerald is quoted as saying: “Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke.” But I must admit that I always have to go through my writing slashing stray exclamations marks, as they do tend to worm their way...

I’m always amazed by the number of would-be writers who say that they never read other people’s work. Apparently, they don’t have time! I don’t believe you can be a writer if you don’t read…anything and everything, omnivorously. It doesn’t matter whether it’s pulp or classical literature; fiction or non-fiction; e-books or pape...

When I get queries from students, the one thing that comes up time and time again is writing reports. So many people have a mental block about it. But, if you always work logically and follow a few basic tips it should be a straightforward task. So, before you write anything, you need to be absolutely clear about the answers to the following four q...

If you’re running your own business, then you’re probably selling something – whether it’s goods or services. But, the only way you’re going to actually make a sale is by promoting your products and convincing people to buy them. (Unless, of course, they are so rare or wonderful that their fame spreads by word of mouth and people are que...

By now I’m sure that all of you have heard of Facebook boss, Mark Zuckerberg’s New Year resolution to read more books. But he’s also launched an online book club and the first title on his reading list is The End of Power by Moises Naim. Needless to say, the book has rocketed into the Amazon bestseller list and sold out. Had you heard of it?...

January can be a very depressing month. After all the fun and excitement of Christmas and a break from routine it’s back to doing the same old thing, in the same old job for most people. Plus, in the UK, the weather is usually pretty grim! But, there are one or two things you can do about it. First, if you’re really dissatisfied with your job y...

Erotica is a popular genre whether you’re writing short stories, novellas or full-length novels. The success of Fifty Shades of Grey has proved that! So, if you don’t blush easily, here are some tips that might just set you off down the primrose path to fame and fortune: 1. Don’t confuse erotica with pornography. The latter usually provides ...

Lots of people feel that writing short stories is an easy option – especially now that there is so much ‘flash fiction’ about. What could be easier than writing a 500-word story (or 100 words, or even as few as 50 words)? But if you hope to get it right – to sell your work to magazines, to see it featured on the internet or to win competi...

Last week we considered the ‘pros’ of self-publishing, but there are some negative aspects too and it’s only fair to explain these so that you can make an informed decision on whether it’s for you. Here they are: * You are responsible for all the marketing of your book – you’ll have to put in a lot of time and effort to publicise your ...