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Writing is a private activity that requires concentrated, focused effort with attention to story line, characterisation and situation. One glancing mistake and the story line could take a wrong turn.

Then, when the novel is finished and has been thoroughly edited by an independent editor, and a publisher decides to take it on, the writer discovers that they have to undergo a major change in thinking and direction.

MARY

By Tony Riches

Reviewed by Suraya Dewing

Writing historical fiction that doesn’t lose its authenticity while also remaining enjoyable to read requires great skill. As the writer creates the story he or she is drawing on a vast reservoir of knowledge and choosing which pieces will serve the story well is a challenge.

Tony Riches manages this juggle exceedingly well.

EXPRESSING HAPPINESS IN FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

by Rosemary Wakelin

• A character can express anger either passively or aggressively dependent upon their nature.
• If a character digresses from their true self, ensure their motivation for doing so is plausible.
• Remember, below are simply suggestions.
• The secret to effective and clever writing is not to copy ideas but allow those ideas to inspire your own.

I set off to write a series of crime fiction novels under the title, The Human Spirit Trilogy. The idea was to celebrate how we have progressed as a species and made the world a better place over the last two hundred years using scientific discoveries and technological advancement. The books would be positive, upbeat and would leave the reader entertained and inspired. Good will always prevail over Evil and the baddies will get their comeuppance.

Albert Einstein’s Best Kept Secret

On 27^th January 1902, 26 year old Mileva Maric gave birth to her first child at her parents’ house in Novi Sad, a provincial town on the Danube that today is Serbia’s second largest city.

The baby girl was named Lieserl and was cared for by her mother for a few short months before she returned to live in a village near Bern, Switzerland, close to where the baby’s 23 year old father had secured employment at the Patent Office on 23^rd June 1902.

For most people, finding a cure for cancer or saving the world from poverty, would be a momentous achievement. For Dr Hannah Siekierkowski, CEO of New York’s own Klinkenhammer Foundation for Medical Research, it’s what she gets paid to do: just another day in the office.  Matthew Cox wanted to know how she was coping with so much media attention.   

When we observe the following three rules for writing, many other sins are forgiven.

So what are those rules?

1. Make your reader care in your opening paragraph.
2. Never give your reader a reason to say, ‘so what?’
3. Make sure that everything in your piece is relevant and adds to the story.

So let’s deal with each of these points individually.

• A character can express anger either passively or aggressively dependent upon their nature.
• If a character digresses from their true self, ensure their motivation for doing so is plausible.
• Remember, below are simply suggestions.