
Blog: Mel's Muse
Showing posts categorised as 'Content'
The Battle Of Conflict - My Writers' Group's Take On Story
BATTLE - OUR GROUP BOOK
The main focus of our meeting this morning - midst laughter and chat - was the final construction and distribution of the booklet we have put together as a group. Titled Battle, and told in narrative, poetic and comic form, the theme confronts some of...
Creative Writing Workshop: Characteristic Conflict
In the last Creative Writing Workshop, we looked at the way in which we can go about Creating Credible Characters. Now I'm going to show you how you can bring creativity to the way you construct conflict. This is crucial when it comes to writing fiction and memoir...
Creative Writing Workshop: Digging Deep For Plots
In the Introduction of this Creative Writing Workshop, I asked the question, Are You On the Right Track? There was nothing flippant about this. Before you begin to write your book, there are questions to be asked. And answered!
The content of this, and future tutorials, will...
The Elevator Pitch: What Defines What & Why You Write?
In my last blog post, What Makes A Writer Write, I mentioned the World Book Night event at Stoke Lodge, in Devon. Invited to speak, briefly, to an audience of forty-plus about my own writing career, I began by saying that someone had asked me, ‘What is an elevator pitch?’ ...
My Writers' Group Feedback
We meet every other month and, midst this morning's mince pies and chocolate cake, we spent the first few minutes sharing news.
David Scott is to be congratulated for having his memoir, Death by a Thousand Clots reviewed in Devon Life, second only to Michael Morpurgo’s latest book.
Roger Steer,...
What Is Your Author & Book Brand?
Have you ever thought, as a reader, about what attracts you to certain books, or particular authors? What makes you go for one rather than another? Is it the book cover? The price of the product? The publisher’s marketing ploy? The author’s nationality?
Somehow, I doubt it. Almost certainly, it will...
How To Be A Writer Of Christian Fiction Books

Are you an established writer or aspiring author who is also a Christian? Is there a novel you want to write (or have written) for which you are unable to find a publisher? Do you enjoy reading mainstream fiction but find that Christian fiction books leave you cold? How does...
Characters & Point Of View: It's All In The Mind
My husband, who is a keen cook, has a copy of one of Nigel Slater's books, Simple Suppers. The recipes produce good, nutritious meals. I have to confess, however, to a slightly queasiness when it comes to watching the celebrity chef on TV. Something, I think, to do with what...
How Key Personality Traits Affect The Writing Process
If you are a book author and you’re writing non-fiction, how do you decide what material to put in and what to leave out? How, in fact, do you organise the content of your book?
WRITING AND PUBLISHING A BOOKChances are that if you’re an aspiring author and you haven’t yet approached a publisher, your...
A Personality Test: Can It Define Blog Brand, Niche & Writing Content?
Does it ever occur to you that who you are might define not only your blog brand and niche, but also the content and style of your writing? One of my readers wrote to me recently and, as part of her e-mail, made the following statements:
Just did the personality test on your website...Blogging: Does Adding Your Credentials Add Or Subtract Followers?
Do you ever feel that the more you know, the more you know you don’t know? I, for instance, didn’t know until I wrote that sentence that The More You Know was the title of public service announcements in the USA! Googling the phrase – as you do – brought up the following YouTube...
How To Blog To Sell When Writing And Publishing A Book

You’re an author and you have a book to sell. Selling in bookshops is one thing; selling online another. You have a question: which is superior, social media or search engines when it comes to promoting your work?
In my last blog post I concluded that, as a reader or researcher, I prefer the latter....
How To Write Description In A Novel: Describing Location

Revised: 19th September, 2010
When you read a novel, you are being invited to inhabit an imaginary world: a fictional place, in which fictional characters live, and move, and have their being. If good descriptive writing is used, their experiences become yours, too, for the duration of the book. But because the medium is...
The Basic Rules Of English Grammar
I came across the following rules of English grammar and, since no one seems to know where they originated, am reproducing them here for the benefit of writers and aspiring authors.
I’m not sure that I agree with all of them. How about you? Leave a comment at the end if you have anything...
The Secrets Of Article Writing: Know Your Market, Know Yourself
Part 2 of 6 in a Series on Article Writing
I began this series of articles with one titled Ten Tips On Writing An Article and I'm going to unwrap each of these ten points in turn and look at them in detail. Some may require more than one post to develop the theme,...
Creative Writing Tips And The Definition Of Denouement

This article has been revised &
updated on: 6th
September, 2010.
Photo: Looking back down to the end of the funicular railway at the sea below!
Photo: Looking back down to the end of the funicular railway at the sea below!
I expect many of you, as an aspiring author, will know that a novel has a beginning, a middle and an end. That’s pretty obvious, I would have thought. But...
Essential Blogging Advice For Beginners

There may be those, as I have already said, who decry blogging as adding to the ‘misinformation and ignorance’ of the ‘digitally addicted’, but without doubt blogging has become the buzz word of the internet. Whether you’re blogging for profit or simply for fun, the aim of the game is always to attract more readers...
BBC Radio Devon Interview
Listen to me chatting to Dave Fitzgerald about my latest release, Chosen, on BBC local radio.
Recently On Twitter
@MelMenzies Will You Play Author Squid Games?
https://t.co/9Fh9SmzaJO
tweeted by ThePRExpert
on 17th November at 15:51
on 17th November at 15:51
@tomi_token Don't miss this amazing project in the world of cryptocurrency.
#TOMI means WEALTH.
Just jump in. You w… https://t.co/420kwuJSNl
tweeted by Jhonsensales
on 29th October at 12:16
on 29th October at 12:16
@tomi_token Don't miss this amazing project in the world of cryptocurrency.
#TOMI means WEALTH.
Just jump in. You w… https://t.co/JKgbesQwsx
tweeted by Jhonsensales
on 29th October at 05:12
on 29th October at 05:12
