I’m a judge for the wonderful Mash Stories, a keyword-based flash fiction competition that focuses on showcasing new talent, and I love it. The ideas, the language, the brilliant pieces — I’m honoured to read our submissions, let alone help decide the winner. But it’s not all good news and happy faces. I’m a judge, and thatContinue reading “10 Tips From a Flash Fiction Judge”
Tag Archives: author
2015 — The Year I Failed
2015 will for ever be the year I tried — and failed — to get a literary agent. 2015 was a year of failure. It’s hard to write that. Not because I’m sad and it hurts, but because I generally like to be optimistic. Upbeat. I went into 2015 with a polished manuscript and a shinyContinue reading “2015 — The Year I Failed”
The First Rejection
What was your first ever rejection? I can remember mine perfectly. I won’t say it’s etched into my memory, because that would be a lie. It doesn’t dwell in my mind or my brain. It was cut into the soft, unsuspecting flesh of my heart. When I reach inside for the moment, I feel the jaggedContinue reading “The First Rejection”
Homecoming Queen – My First Shortlisted Story
HOMECOMING QUEEN After six posts dedicated exclusively to writing advice, I was starting to feel like ‘Lucy Goacher’ had no place in ‘Lucy Goacher’s Blog’ – so I’m reclaiming it. I’ll still be posting my usual weekly/monthly advice guides with Scrabble piece headers, but with extra posts a couple of times a week to document my experiences, accomplishments,Continue reading “Homecoming Queen – My First Shortlisted Story”
Character Description: Beyond Stick Figures
Novels are made up of three main elements: plot, character, and action. The plot or storyline of a work is shown through the action taken by the characters. Try to imagine Harry Potter without the wizards, or Lord of the Flies without the school kids. Nothing would happen. Characters are important – and unless you’re working on some kind ofContinue reading “Character Description: Beyond Stick Figures”
Filtering Out Filter Words
I’m currently trudging through the first draft of my second novel, an experience made horribly stressful by my self-imposed one-month deadline. (Just over two weeks to go! Eek!) I’m already way behind schedule after spending the first four days completely ignoring all the advice I gave myself in my previous post on first drafts, but I’veContinue reading “Filtering Out Filter Words”
How to Write a Killer First Draft
In a month’s time, I’ll have written my second novel. Well, hopefully. For some stupid, ridiculous, reckless reason I’ve ordered myself to write a whole book in four weeks, as a kind of unofficial NaNoWriMo. Now, that’s not like me. I’m a plotter, a planner, a stop-and-smell-the-roses kind of writer. I spend days fretting over chapter titles.Continue reading “How to Write a Killer First Draft”
The #1 Rule of Writing: Show, Don’t Tell
If you’ve read my previous post on 15 Ways to Improve Your Writing, you might remember what came in at number 2 on the list: yep, that infernal phrase of the writing community, ‘show, don’t tell’. If you haven’t heard this phrase before, you’re about to get sick of it – and if you have,Continue reading “The #1 Rule of Writing: Show, Don’t Tell”
15 Ways to Improve Your Writing
To kick off my shiny new blog, I thought I’d start with the basics: my top 15 tips on how to improve your writing. From perfecting grammar and plot twists to avoiding boring description and the dreaded cliché, these are the tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years at uni, online, and throughContinue reading “15 Ways to Improve Your Writing”
Lucy Goacher 