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The countdown continues. Here's my second favourite writing tip of all time. It's all about NOT trusting your brain too much.    

Okay kids, today I'm continuing my countdown of my top five writing tips of all time. These are all short and sharp and good for any age. Here's my fourth favourite writing tip of all time.    

Okay kids, today I'm starting a countdown of my top five writing tips of all time. They're all short and sharp and good for any age. Once you've watched this first one, you might just decide to throw out all the scratchy pens in the house. And the dodgy pencils. And...

I do lots of writing workshops in schools and there is something that is worrying me, which is connected to the NAPLAN writing tests students do. The problem is that there seems to be a formula of sorts taught to students about how to write a narrative story and...

The Germans have this word Schaudenfraude that means pleasure derived from another person's misfortune. While this might sound cruel, think about the time you might have laughed watching videos on the internet where people accidentally hurt themselves or something...

Another tool in the comedy writer’s toolbox is juxtaposition. What does juxtaposition mean? Two contrasting things being seen or placed close together. This could be a short person amongst a class of tall kids. It could be a serious character placed in a room with a...

This week I thought I'd concentrate on the art of making people laugh. There are a few tools that a writer can use and this week I will share them all with you. The first trick is the use of exaggeration. You especially want to exaggerate descriptions, reactions and...

This is one of my favourite writing challenges that I like to do. It is called No E's Please. Very simply, you need to write a story and you are not allowed to use the letter e at all. It is quite the challenge because of course e is used so much. You can't even use...

Hi Westworders, When I was younger, I never ever planned my stories. I always sat down with a pen and paper and just wrote. It was exciting to see where my story would take me. Sometimes I got very muddled. Sometimes I got completely lost. And very often my story...

Hi Westworders, When I was younger, I never ever planned my stories. I always sat down with a pen and paper and just wrote. It was exciting to see where my story would take me. Sometimes I got very muddled. Sometimes I got completely lost. And very often my story...

Okay, we’re nearing the end of my blogfest here on WestWords, so let’s get down to business with my top tips for writing and illustrating. WRITERS WRITE A lot. Then when you’re done, write some more. Just as you wouldn’t expect to play concert piano after three piano...

  I'm not sure about you, but I love a bit of a nosy around other people's creative spaces. It’s so fascinating to...

Just like you and your complex system of bones and skin, a book has a structure that holds it all together. From its cover (skin) through to the way the pages (bones) are formed - and even who does what role in the book-creation process - a book is a fascinating...

Do you like to write or read fan fiction? I have a lot of arguments with teachers about this - when I do a workshop in a school, teachers want me to forbid their students from writing fan fic. 'Get them to do something original!' they say. The problem with that is - I...

Sometimes I get asked to judge kids' writing competitions and the thing that most kids seem to struggle with is - structure. They can come up with characters, have cool idea for scenes and dramatic events. But they don't know how to weave it into a complete narrative...