Early writers didn’t have the enormous range of pens, pencils and other writing implements we have at our fingertips today. In the Middle East, where writing began, reeds and rushes grew in many areas. So people cut lengths of reeds, sharpened the ends, dipped them into soot or ink and used them to write with.
Since [...]

Filed under: Writing History, Writing: | 2 Comments »

Rejection is something you will have to think about sooner or later if you decide to try and get your work published. Everyone gets rejected but what you need to keep in mind is that it is only your piece of writing that has been rejected, not you as a person. No matter how difficult [...]

Filed under: Rejection, Writing: | No Comments »

Warning: This is not suitable for children or the faint hearted.
The entire civilization of Ancient Egypt was based on religion, and their beliefs were important to them. Their belief in the rebirth after death became their driving force behind their funeral practices.
Egyptian cemeteries were on the Nile River’s west bank, because the sun set, [...]

Filed under: Egyptian | No Comments »

The Knight
Knights - After the lord on the social ladder came the knight. The path to knighthood began at the age of seven, when a vassal sent his son to the lord’s house to become a page. For seven years a page was cared for by the women of the house, who instructed him in [...]

Filed under: Medieval | No Comments »

This is an issue that haunts most aspiring writers. Most word processors are equipped with a word count feature, but this is NOT the way to do it. Even though using this feature will give you the actual word count used, the printing industry works it out differently.
If you look at any two pages in [...]

Filed under: Editing & Rewrites, Planning, Submission Process, Writing: | 10 Comments »

This is an area I know a lot of people have difficulties with. I’ve seen a lot of mistakes made where writers are not sure where to put a comma or full stop. Here is an example of the correct way to use them:
“I meet a wizard today,” Sam announced.
“Sam, you’re nuts!” Peter replied. “Wizards [...]

Filed under: Grammar and Punctuation, Writing: | No Comments »

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt had immense power and wealth, and great responsibilites. He made offerings to gain the gods’ favour, he performed ceremonies to ensure that the land would be fertile, and he had a duty to build monuments which would please the gods. He made the laws, and was also commander-in-chief of the [...]

Filed under: Egyptian | 1 Comment »

Type 1 - Bubonic Plague
The most common form. This disease is characterised by an extremely high fever, chills, and ultimately delirium and death. The bacilli collect in the lymph nodes, particularly those in the armpits and groin. The nodes swell and become extremely painful. These swellings are called buboes, hence the name bubonic plague. Death [...]

Filed under: Medieval | No Comments »

Imagine… if you could write one chapter a day - a first draft - you’d have your first completed (draft) manuscript finished within a month.
Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? You’d think it would be easy to write say 10 or 12 pages a day. Simple! For some this may be the case but for most, [...]

Filed under: Writing Habits, Writing: | 2 Comments »

Soon after midnight on Sunday 2 September 1666 a fire broke out in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, near London Bridge. It spread rapidly through the narrow streets where the high houses were tightly packed together. Like trees in a forest, they were tinder-dry after a long hot summer.
The Thames was so low that [...]

Filed under: Medieval | No Comments »