Haunted by the Past by Tom Neil

I walked through the woods, thick clouds hung in the sky, between skeletal grabbing fingers of bare branches which threatened to pluck them from the sky. The sunlight peeked through, barely illuminating the rough country trail ahead of me. It was late November and a frigid chill had firmly entrenched itself in the surrounding wilderness, … Continue reading Haunted by the Past by Tom Neil

Writing Challenge 1 & 2 by Tom Neil

Creative writing has always been a passion of mine, but even more so since I started this site I've had other priorities and so I've not been able to do as much as I've liked. So I recently decided to challenge myself by taking up a flash fiction writing challenge. You can check out my … Continue reading Writing Challenge 1 & 2 by Tom Neil

Dearest, Darling, Decay by J.H. Laird

So this short story was written by our very own Jenna Laird for Ravenfest, a two day festival which took place on October 29th and 30th 2021. This event celebrates famous American author and poet, Edgar Allan Poe and so entrants were encouraged to write a piece of fiction, approximately 500 words in length in … Continue reading Dearest, Darling, Decay by J.H. Laird

Interview with Chris Brecheen (Writing About Writing)

First off, tell me about yourself? I wanted to be a writer since a Halloween prompt in fourth grade. I think we were supposed to write at least a page response. I wrote twenty and fell in love with the feeling. Then I spent almost thirty years trying to figure out how to make it … Continue reading Interview with Chris Brecheen (Writing About Writing)

Interview with Jocelyn Bates (The Torn Pages Project)

Hi. First off, tell me about yourself (and feel free to drop any personal social media links etc that you’d like to share)? Hi Thomas, thank you so much for having me. My name is Jocelyn and I’m a poet who writes under the name J.V. Bates on Instagram. I’m based in the North of … Continue reading Interview with Jocelyn Bates (The Torn Pages Project)

Walking by Laura Lodahl

The past is a place I know well, well enough to be myself, to breathe, to sing, to dance, to hold on. It has been walking on my side ever since I was born. Yesterday is close, tangible, complete. When I look back at the beginning, I find pieces of myself which I have left … Continue reading Walking by Laura Lodahl

Poem #7 by Lorenzo Dozier

Love is a feeling that cannot be explained, it gives me butterflies and makes me go insane Love don’t have to call me every second of the hour Love just has to care enough, and give us power In all the times we have fought through the darkest nights, Love has always been the shining … Continue reading Poem #7 by Lorenzo Dozier

The Mask by Victoria Sullivan

You can check out a video of the author reading this poem over on the Unchained Media Scotland Facebook Page by clicking here. I wear a mask, as it protects From germs of those who’re ill I wear a mask, so can’t transmit The virus that can kill I wear a mask - my customs … Continue reading The Mask by Victoria Sullivan

Poem #6 by Lorenzo Dozier

Is this really the land of opportunities or has the government created a system to tear down our communities? Every day someone fears to go outside, takes a bullet to the brain And then you die from the second we are born The world taught us how to self-hate Ever think of a reason why … Continue reading Poem #6 by Lorenzo Dozier

3 am by Laura Lodahl

You know this space, Right there, right between shoulder and ear, Just big enough for you to rest your head at night. This is where you seek shelter, From your nightmares and your demons. You have buried your dreams there and your hopes. It’s where the things left unsaid are waiting for us, Waiting to … Continue reading 3 am by Laura Lodahl

Tips For Self-Editing

I will be the first to admit that editing is the area of the writing process where I could use the most improvement, I’m either too critical in which case I can turn ten pages of my own work into a few scared pieces of punctuation or I’m too forgiving because I like a particular … Continue reading Tips For Self-Editing

How To Finish That First Draft

So if you are like me it can feel like the hardest thing about writing is ironically, actually writing. So we put this list together of helpful tips for finishing that first draft. This list is by no means exhaustive, and if you have any tips feel free to comment on this post. Make a … Continue reading How To Finish That First Draft

5 Character Tropes To Avoid

I’m going to start this post by saying that these tropes have been a part of literature for as long as man has been writing, there are no original ideas, only new ways of utilising old ones so don’t fret too much if you’re novel has a little too much of ‘a hero’s journey’ or … Continue reading 5 Character Tropes To Avoid

Creating An Outline For Your Novel

I was always kind of against this when I was younger, my thought process was that in planning out my novel I was firstly wasting time that I could be writing and secondly robbing the story of creativity by insisting on planning it rather than letting it form naturally. Now I’ll admit there may be … Continue reading Creating An Outline For Your Novel

How To Introduce Setting In A Story

So I think you’ll agree with me that one of the most important things when building a story is the setting, sure you need characters and you need plot, but for those to be believable and have context, you need to have setting. You need to be careful though, you want the setting of your … Continue reading How To Introduce Setting In A Story