- Find a paragraph from some published fiction work of a minimum of 100 words and copy it. Then rewrite it by changing nouns, verbs, etc. Rearrange the sentences to make it more interesting. If you ever suffer from writer’s block, this is a method to ‘unblock’ you.
- Take a piece of your own writing. Choose something you are not happy with. Now change the name of your main characters. Change many verbs to make them more powerful. Cut out the adverbs. What does this do the piece? Keep on making small changes. If you have passive sentences, make them active. Rework the order of your paragraphs. Play with the piece and see what each set of changes does to the overall work.
Mary Welsey
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
Mary Wesley, the English writer, published her first novel when she was 70 and died at the age of 90. Wesley was passionate about what she did, deliberately sought out friends of all ages, and once said her success was an example of “arrested development.”
She went on to write nine more novels, (three of which were filmed for TV) and was regularly in the bestseller lists.
Wesley is a hope to all of us – it’s never too late to become a successful author.