I’ve been teaching Creative Writing for years and after a while it occurred to me that most writing books for beginners don’t cover important tools like rhythm and sense of place. So I wrote some writing prompts and shared them with my students, who found them super-useful and different from the tools they had tried before. My list of writing prompts grew and grew over the years, and eventually turned into How to Write.
All the Small Steps Writing Guides in the series are based on two principles. One, you can take any big project, goal or task and break it down into smaller and smaller steps until it becomes doable. Two, if you take small but specific actions regularly enough, they’ll have a snowball effect.
That means, using the writing prompts in How to Write, you can take small steps towards achieving your writing goals, starting right now.
This is a practical book. Do the exercises as you go along and see how powerful they can be.
If you’re a complete beginner these techniques will enable you to get started and to build a writing habit.
If you’re a Creative Writing tutor or a writer leading workshops, this book will provide you with plenty of writing games and activities to share with your students.
The exercises are easy to access because there’s no fluff. Each chapter is divided into the same six parts:
Get insider knowledge on evoking an emotional response in your reader and on how to use language to communicate powerfully and effectively before you start.
They’re not ‘secret’ but most writers discover these tips after they’ve been writing for several years. You can learn them today.
Inspirational, perceptive
and encouraging
“Louise is one of the most inspirational lecturers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She is perceptive and this comes across in her fantastic attitude towards all her students. Her words are always encouraging, her feedback always thorough and constructive.” – former student.
I saw myself as a writer
“Louise is not just a creative writer, she is a creative teacher. After her seminars my mind always fizzed with ideas; a blank page became something not to be feared but filled. Perhaps more importantly she changed the way I thought about myself: she taught me to see myself as a writer – that was the most valuable lesson and for that I’m extremely grateful.” – former student.
Plenty of ideas to think about
“Louise taught me how to write. She taught me how to be merciful and merciless. She taught me craft and technique. She filled my toolbox, so I can build prose from scratch. Now I believe in myself and my abilities. I am infinitely more capable because I took her class.” – former student.
Hi. I’m Lou. I’m a writer and a writing tutor. I live on the sometimes sunny south coast of England. A few years back I wrote the first ‘small steps guide’ and in How to Write I apply exactly the same ideas to the process of writing, resulting in a set of accessible, tried-and-tested techniques that you can start TODAY – simply by taking small steps.
Short, friendly and practical, these Small Steps Guides help you to develop your writing practice by helping you to take small steps towards your goals. Find out more about the other books in the series by clicking below.
Louise Tondeur: Writer
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