Writers Come in All Shapes and Sizes

How not to lose your dictated articles with the Drafts app — As an Apple user, I’ve had the Drafts app on my ecosystem for awhile (sorry — it’s Apple-only). However, it’s only recently that I’ve begun to explore it in more detail. The Drafts app is one of those apps you can download for free on your desktop, and your iOS…

A tour around the Lake District’s favoured last resting places of its greatest literary and record-breaking locals The high-pitched chirping caresses my ears, pulling my head round until I see the cheeky chappie perched on the top of a mottled gravestone. I watch him for a few minutes, singing gleefully…

How to make your article ideas more appealing to print magazine editors — Writing for the print magazine market can be tough. Not only do we need ideas, but we also need to have them at the right time. Most print magazines work months ahead. If you think about it, there’s quite a lot to putting a magazine together. Not only do you…

Should writers take a beak from their writing business to avoid creative burnout? — This article first appeared in the September 2022 issue of Writing Magazine (out Aug 22). (*= affiliate link: I sometimes use affiliate links in my posts. This won’t cost you anything, but if you go on to buy from a link I may earn a small commission.) As writers, we…

Mother Nature’s Festive Tinsel — It’s so beautiful I don’t want to step on it. I gaze in awe at the sight before me, completely mesmerised by it. That’s what I love about these moments. Sometimes they hit you when you least expect it. When you’re not looking. But something, something magical, catches the corner…

Exploring the Kerry Ridgeway, one of the UK’s ancient driving routes across the Welsh Borders — For thousands of years, Man has been taking off on foot and walking along the tops of these Welsh Border hills in his quest to earn a living. This ancient working highway has historical remnants dating back to the Iron Ages, yet is believed to predate even these times. If…

Don’t write one article — write six — Nnnnggggg! Ideas. Don’t you just hate them? Or perhaps you love them? Ideas are those pesky little things that have a habit of biting you at the most inopportune moment, and then buzzing off into the ether if you don’t swat them hard enough and imprint them into some sort…

If Michael Palin could circumnavigate the world, who could stop me circumnavigating the Isle of Wight? Eva Braun. That’s who. — In the 1990’s, Michael Palin was busy circumnavigating the world. He was either nipping around the Equator or he was dashing from Pole to Pole. However, he hadn’t circumnavigated the Isle of Wight. In 1995 (when I was at the start of my travel writing journey), I decided that I…