by Ali | Jan 8, 2026 | Motivation
My Annual Writing Goals for 2026 (Tell Me Your Goals, Too!) Happy New Year! We’re just over a week into 2026 … and there’s a good chance you’ve been thinking about your writing, and what goals you might want to set for the year. I’d love to hear what you’re working...
by Ali | Dec 12, 2025 | Motivation
Annual Writing Goal Progress in Q4, 2025 (Slower Progress) We’re getting close to the end of 2025. In fact, 12th December always feels a little bit like the ending of a year for me … because it’s my birthday! So how did things go in Q4, and during 2025 as a whole?...
by Ali | Dec 4, 2025 | Editing
The Three Stages of Editing Your Writing (and Nine Handy Do-it-Yourself Tips) Note: This post was originally published in 2014, and was last updated in December 2025. Whether you love editing or hate it, if you’re a writer, there’s no way to avoid it. You may well...
![Interiority: Six Different Ways to Show Your Character’s Thoughts on the Page [With Examples]](https://www.aliventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/interiority-character-thoughts.png)
by Ali | Nov 13, 2025 | Fiction
Interiority: Six Different Ways to Show Your Character’s Thoughts on the Page [With Examples] One brilliant thing about the novel (and short story) as a form of storytelling is that it gives a unique access inside characters’ minds. If you’re writing a script...
by Ali | Nov 6, 2025 | Fiction
How to Start a Novel: Eight Options, Plus Examples Writing the first scene of a novel is tricky. Perhaps you’ve been slowly developing an idea for weeks, months, or even years. You might have written pages of notes or created a full outline. And now you’ve opened up...
