From Story Idea to Reader

My new book is out at last! Well, it's half mine ;-)

It's been quite a long time coming, but then there's a lot in it. To give you an idea how much, the contents are listed below. 

I've included the page numbers of the paperback version to make it more confusing give a guide as to how much space is devoted to particular topics. Eg the womag section starts on page 172 and the next one (on competitions) on 194, so there are 22 pages about writing fiction specifically for womags. Elsewhere 17 pages are devoted to finding ideas, 3 on speech tags, 5 on editing a story to the required length. You get the idea,

Section 1 Introductions Quiz 2. Anyone can become a better writer 4. Introductions 6. Getting started – what you need 9.

Section 2 What to write Writing more than you already know 14. 101 sources of writing ideas 21. Generating ideas – mind mapping 30. Which person to write in? 38 Mastering point of view 43. Plotting 53. Research 57. Naming characters 60. Titles 62. Beginnings 65. Different genres 69.

Section 3 How to write What you’ll need, once you’ve got going 74. The middle 81. Conflict 83. Editing for story length 85. Spoken word v Written word 90. The psychology of word choice 93. Stereotypes 96. Show v Tell 98. Tenses 103. Grammar – What’s the point? 107. Characters 117. Character questionnaire 121. Speech tags 126. Clichés 129. Keeping going 132. Endings 138. Story arc 140. Editing and proofreading 142. Presenting your work 145. Feedback 150. Different versions of English 159. More words per week 161.

Section 4 What to do with your work Womag fiction 172. 101 competition pointers 194. Other markets 204. Social media and the internet 209. NaNoWriMo 217. Blurb or synopsis? 220. Keeping track of submissions 224. Reasons for rejection 231.

Section 5 A writer’s life A proper writing routine 234. Accounts and taxation 236. Legal questions 241. Workshops and conferences 246. Self-publishing 248. Public speaking 261. Our typical writing days 266. FAQs 270. Glossary 27.3 Useful resources 279.

From Story Idea to Reader is available from Amazon as a paperback (£9.99) or ebook (£3.99). If you'd like it in a different format, such as pdf, you can obtain them direct from the publisher.

It's a little early for wine, so I'm off to celebrate with a cup of tea and a book biscuit.