Re-writing a manuscript is daunting and when I started mine, I wasn't sure how I would get on. I found part way through, I had to stop and take stock of what I'd written so far: do some editing, check for unnecessary adverbs and clichés etc. Since then I've spent...
Friday Fiction – Some Tough Decisions
Welcome to Friday Fiction, my weekly fiction post and link-up. Thanks to all those who dropped by last week to read and add their own work. It's great to have the company here at Nikki Young Writes! The link is open for adding your posts (see the blue frog link at the...
Creating Fictional Characters
Writing inspiration can come from many sources, whether it's through music, images, or newspaper articles. It can also come from the most unlikely of sources and when my son came home with this painting he had created at school, I immediately fell in love with this...
Friday Fiction – The Girl on the Outside
Welcome to Friday Fiction, my weekly fiction post. It's also an opportunity to link up your own fiction posts, so if you are working on anything at the moment, please feel free to share it here (using the blue frog link below). Thanks to those who joined in last week....
What is your most creative time of day?
When do you write - in the morning, late in the evening? Are you at your most creative when surrounded by noise - music, coffee shop chatter, or do you prefer silence? Some people can write any place, any time. If finding the time to write is an issue, it's a case of...
My Favourite Thing About Mother’s Day
What makes Mother's Day so special? For me it is the handmade cards the children make. It's thanks, in part to their school, who always make sure they mark the occasion. My middle daughter likes to make her own additional card or gift, usually including a poem. The...
Friday Fiction – Gift
Welcome to Friday Fiction, my weekly fiction post. It's also an opportunity to link up your own fiction posts, so if you are working on anything at the moment, please feel free to share it here (using the blue frog link below). Thanks to those who joined in last week....
A ‘Free-From’ Life – New Beginnings
I've been busy making some changes to my blog. For sometime I've felt that Nikki Young Writes has become more of a writing-themed blog than a lifestyle one. The time had come to make a new home for my health-related articles and recipes. It means running two blogs,...
Friday Fiction – Anticipation
Welcome to Friday Fiction, my weekly fiction post. It's also an opportunity to link up your own fiction posts, so if you are working on anything at the moment, please feel free to share it here (using the blue frog link below). Thanks to those who joined in last week....
Clichés and Adverbs – Editing your Work
This weekend I spent a lot of time editing my manuscript. As I said last week, I had to stop and take a step back from it in order to check that I was going in the right direction. I decided to start editing from the beginning, especially after giving the first few...
Friday Fiction – A to Z Story
Welcome to Friday Fiction. Regular visitors will know that I share a fictional piece here every week and invite others to link up their own work. Thanks to all those who linked up last week. It's great to see so many of you trying the exercises that I've been...
Story Structure
If all stories were as simple as a beginning, middle and end, then writing a novel would be easy. They would also be a bit dull, which is why longer stories are structured to include sub plots. Yes, there is still a beginning, middle and end, but it's not quite as...
Friday Fiction – Jokes for Dads
Welcome to Friday Fiction. Regular visitors will know that I share a fictional piece here every week and invite others to link up their own work. The blue frog below takes you to the link-up page, where you can either add your own blog pieces or read others. My...
3 Gluten and Dairy Free Birthday Cakes
I have a dairy and wheat intolerant child, so I don’t get to buy fancy birthday cakes for him every year. Besides, I like to experiment to see if I can come up with something palatable myself. We have three birthdays in quick succession in our house (Christmas day,...
Friday Fiction – 10 Verbs, 10 Nouns
Welcome to Friday Fiction. Regular visitors will know that I share a fictional piece here every week and invite others to link up their own work. The blue frog below takes you to the link-up page, where you can either add your own blog pieces or read others. For my...
Writing Exercises – Creating Fiction and Exercising the Brain
I finally feel like I am making some headway with my novel re-write. This is thanks, in part, to my daughter doing a two-hour gym session every Saturday. It gives me the opportunity to sit down and write for a reasonable length of time without any interruptions. I’m...
Friday Fiction – Surviving the Winter
This week's Friday Fiction is inspired by a post I saw last week on Jay C Wolfe's blog. The challenge was to write a 55 word story in which the first line has ten words, the second has nine, the third eight and so on, ending with just one word. I wanted to have a go...
100K in 100 Days – Progress (Or Not!)
January is as busy for us as December and I'm so glad that it's over. I don't normally wish time away like that, but I feel that we all need a bit of a break now. What was I thinking taking on the 100K in 100 Days challenge? Somewhere along the way, I’ve lost count of...
Friday Fiction – Celebration
My Friday Fiction post this week is inspired by the prompt - Celebration - given by Sara from mumturnedmom. Right, have you ordered the champagne? And the canapés? I want a glitz and glamour Hollywood Oscars theme. Make sure there's a red carpet; must have the red...
Inspirational Writing
I’ve been a closet writer for the last few years and it wasn’t until I did NaNoWriMo last November, that I actually plucked up the courage to socialise with other writers. I surprised myself by making such a bold step and I haven’t looked back since. Now I’ve gone...