Author Archives: lindaspurrblog

Linda’s blog July 19th We all have secrets. It may just be a secret passion for honeycomb ice-cream or a secret fantasy about a film star, or it could be a really big, important, life-changing secret. Are you using secrets in your writing? The big story involving secrets that immediately came to my mind wasContinue reading “Shh … do you have a secret?”

  Linda’s blog July 13th Are you and your characters just too comfortable? I know it’s a lovely feeling, being comfortable. For me, it’s settling into a comfy chair, with a glass of something, a few nibbles and either a book or a TV programme. Or it’s getting together with family or friends that youContinue reading “Are you sitting TOO comfortably?”

July 6th Linda’s blog Words and numbers I love finding new words. My latest is DINKUS. Yes, it’s a real word! I can’t find it in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) but it is in plenty of others. If you want to know what it means and how it’s used, please click here to readContinue reading “No shortage of words!”

June 29th blog We’re halfway through the year now and what a strange six months it’s been. I can’t help wondering what the second six months are going to be like, especially as the news of the moment is a possible second lockdown for the city of Leicester. How have your writing habits changed sinceContinue reading “Your writing success”

June 22nd blog Minor characters – how many and how important? One question that comes up from time to time in my writing groups is How many minor characters should my story/novel have? As so often in writing, there are no hard and fast rules, just a few guidelines. With beginners, there is a tendencyContinue reading “How many is a crowd?”

Linda’s blog June 15th I’ve read that quite a number of people are keeping diaries during the Coronavirus lockdown. It is, after all, an unprecedented happening in our lifetime, one that will become part of our history. If you are writing a diary, your thoughts and observations will undoubtedly be of interest to family andContinue reading “Real life stories”

We’ve had a few changes here in Britain the last few weeks: summer temperatures, days of unending sunshine, then grey clouds and storms and a temptation to put the central heating back on! We’re great at talking about the weather – a very British trait, we are led to believe. But how good are weContinue reading “A Change in the Weather”

Linda’s Blog June 1st After a few life glitches at home, I hope I’m back to a regular Monday morning blog post. I’ve heard from quite a few writers in recent weeks who have felt disappointed, upset and even guilty that they haven’t been able to get down to writing during the lockdown. “I thoughtContinue reading “A Writing Habit”

Linda’s Blog May 28th 2020 Rarely, if ever, in life does everything go smoothly all the time. If it did, then our stories would be so boring. Life and stories are all about how we cope with adversity: problems, challenges, barriers, troubles, difficulties, setbacks. There may well be a happy ending, but only after theContinue reading “Give ’em a hard time!”

Linda’s blog May 18th  Apologies – two days late.  Following on from last week’s foray into editing, I thought I’d address another aspect this week – that of repetition. When it’s intentional and well-written, repetition can add enormously to your writing voice and style. But used accidentally, it can be annoying to the reader, stopContinue reading “Let me repeat that!”