Trying to figure out how to plot a novel, and not sure where to start? One thing’s clear – if I didn’t draw up a story outline before drafting, my narratives would fizzle away into nothing. No character arcs. No pacing. No flow. No meaning. Nuffink. All writers need to find their own way (we…
Tag: caroline hardaker poetry
Why I write (writing vs philosophy)
PRE-BLOG WARNING: Hold on tight. Reading this post might feel like sailing a punctured life-raft along a stream of consciousness. Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon. I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how authors label themselves. Authors. Artists. Creatives. Content Creators. Storytellers. Novellists. Poets. But I suppose the label that sticks to…
5 Reasons why writers should try new things
Find out why trying new things will help you develop as a writer and as a bloody wonderful human being.
5 best books on creative writing
Look up the best books on writing and you’ll find thousands – all with similar sounding names and blurbs on the back. With limited time and limited budget, how do you know where to start? I definitely haven’t read all of them. No-one has. It’s impossible! But I do have quite the collection on my…
April: Writer in Residence at ‘Moving Parts’
One of the most exciting projects that I knew was coming up in 2019 was my official involvement with ‘Moving Parts’, the Newcastle Puppetry Festival. Ben and I went to a few shows at the 2017 festival, and we were so completely overawed by it that we were half-intending to run away from life and…
What is an art song?
It’s not something you necessarily listen to everyday on Spotify, but I’ve recently been introduced to ‘art songs’. This all started when a wonderfully talented composer, Charlotte Marlow, got in touch with me to collaborate on an art song sequence for a celebration at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. March 19th this…
How setting affects a story
I haven’t posted too much about this yet, but this month I officially started writing the first draft of my second novel. I’m right back in the throes of working out where, when, why, and how – and refreshing my memory with the basics of how to write a first draft. Flipping from the final…
What a year. And what’s ahead in 2019?
Hopefully you’re cosied up somewhere suitably blankety and mulled wine-y. I’m currently wrapped up in 4 layers of fleece and drinking pots and pots of tea. For us, New Year is spent inside, waiting for the bells to ring and for there to be another new beginning. It’s just that this time I’m pretty flippin’…
Lest We Forget – ‘It Isn’t Yet Winter’, by Caroline Hardaker
Bit of a bonus blog today – I’m breaking the one a month rule! I wanted to share a poem of mine that’s recently been included in the ‘The Sorrow’ issue of The Linnet’s Wings magazine. It’s an issue dedicated to today’s centenary – 100 years since the guns were silenced. I wrote ‘It isn’t…
Why Reading is Important (and why I’m already regretting writing this blog post)
Why taking time in your day to read anything is essential, why writing is important, and why I’m already regretting writing this at all. Already, I’m thinking this topic is too large, too profound, too IMMENSE for me to condense into one little article. But still, I’m impassioned to put out there why I thing…
Caroline Hardaker Author 