The Tool-Kit: The Fundamental Tools and Skills

PSYCHIC DISTANCE: what it is and how to use it : also called narrative distance; an extraordinarily useful way of thinking, which is responsible for more lightbulb moments in my students than everything else put together.

• Itchy Bitesized 29: SIX THOUGHTS ABOUT PSYCHIC DISTANCE

SHOWING AND TELLING: the basics : a newly revised and updated post about how to use both showing and telling to make your story do everything you want it to do.

• HOW SHOWING AND TELLING CO-OPERATE : why you need both, and how they work together

• HOW TO TELL, AND STILL SHOW : how to get on with the story without sacrificing vividness

• THE REAL SIXTH SENSE : writing uses all SIX of your senses - here's how.

PAST AND PRESENT TENSE : the pros and cons of both : the different issues that arise with first and third person for each tense, and why the new creative writing orthodoxy is wrong

• ‘HAD HAD’ AND OTHER TENSE MOMENTS : why getting the hang of past and present perfective can help your writing

WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL : the full series began in March 2020 and it's intended for writers who would love to write a novel but find the prospect daunting, or just don't know where to start.

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part One: Character in Action

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Two: People in Pencil

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Three: Place

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Four: Drafting a Scene

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Five: Reading Like a Writer

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Six: Revising 1

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Seven: Point-of-View

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Eight: Thinking About Plot & Story

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Nine: Revising 2

• WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL Part Ten: Building at Novel-Scale

PINPOINT YOUR PROBLEM : eight classic developmental and diagnostic tools for your story

Photo by Lachlan Donald on Unsplash