by sharon zink | Jun 20, 2017 | characterisation, writing craft, writing tips
Today’s ‘real talk’ involves looking at one of the main reasons why writers lose their way in books – and that’s by being overly attached to their ‘darlings’ – darlings who may or may not really deserve to be in their...
by sharon zink | Jun 15, 2017 | inspiration, productivity, publishing, The Book Diner Interviews, women, writing craft, writing tips
This week on The Book Diner, we’re talking to the very talented Laura Wilkinson. I think I first met Laura at an agent event about eight years ago, but we’ve kept in touch and it’s been wonderful to see her leap from success to success. Despite being the mother of two...
by sharon zink | Jun 13, 2017 | criticism, feedback, publishing, submission process, writing craft, writing tips
I’ve given a lot of feedback in my life – as an English Literature academic, I graded thousands of undergrad and postgrad papers and then I became an A’ level examiner and marked over a 1000 student exams. Add to that the hundreds of reports I have...
by sharon zink | Jun 8, 2017 | inspiration, productivity, The Book Diner Interviews, women, writing craft, writing tips
This week The Book Diner goes back to when I had a visit from the very lovely Alex Hourston shortly after her debut novel, In My House, was published by Faber and Faber). It’s a very exciting time for a novelist when a first book comes out as I know from my own...
by sharon zink | Jun 6, 2017 | feminism, inspiration, productivity, resilience, success, women, writing tips
Last week, I wrote about some of the reasons why it’s harder for women to succeed as writers, including gender bias in the publishing industry, the extra burden of domestic chores many women carry, which means we have less time to write, plus our feminine...
by sharon zink | Jun 2, 2017 | inspiration, productivity, The Book Diner Interviews, women, writing craft, writing tips
This week at The Book Diner, we’re delving into the archives again, back to when I talked to the lovely Debz Hobbs-Wyatt, winner of the Bath Short Story Award and author of While No One Was Watching. I met Debz when both of us had stories in Unthank Books’...
by sharon zink | May 30, 2017 | feminism, inspiration, productivity, publishing, resilience, submission process, success, women, writing tips
I’ve always been a feminist – I was reading Simone de Beauvoir at 13 and I nipped out from my job at Foyle’s bookshop in London to see Gloria Steinem speak when I was 19 (and, yes, she was amazing!). I volunteered at the Feminist Library before I...
by sharon zink | May 26, 2017 | inspiration, productivity, The Book Diner Interviews, writing craft, writing tips
This week The Book Diner interview is coming out a day late as we’ve all been in mourning here in the UK over the terrible events in Manchester, so please forgive my tardiness in posting this. Today I’m sharing an interview from the archives, when I was...
by sharon zink | May 23, 2017 | inspiration, productivity, resilience, success, writing craft, writing tips
In recent weeks, I’ve been offering some ‘real talk’ about writing and money, the boo boos people make when submitting and the nuts and bolts of the self-editing process. Today, I want to address an astonishing statistic I heard recently about how...
by sharon zink | May 18, 2017 | productivity, resilience, The Book Diner Interviews, writing craft, writing tips
This week, The Book Diner looks back to when we had a visit from Michael Nobbs, an artist and non-fiction writer from Wales whose book, Drawing Your Life: Learn to See, Record, and Appreciate Life’s Small Joys, was published by Penguin after years of successfully...
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