Time Management
Develop the art of time management.  If you really want to write, you will find the time.  I don’t watch much TV (thankfully it’s not that much of a sacrifice to give it up) and use that time in an evening to do my major writing stint.

Routines
Keep going.  Get into a routine.  Be persistent.  You’ll train your mind into accepting “oh this is writing time” and you’re then more inclined to get on with the job in hand.  Doesn’t matter whether this is 10 minutes or 10 hours.

Scraps of Time
Use whatever little scraps of time you have to write notes, jot down story ideas etc.  All those ten minutes here and there add up. Going to the dentists, doctors or anywhere you’ll have to wait for a while?  I use that time to read.  Reading helps writing.  Train journeys are good for this too.

Writer's Block - WHAT writer's block?
Don’t worry about writer’s block.  I’m not convinced it exists but if you feel stuck write down ANYTHING that occurs.  BRAINSTORM.  Who knows?  There might be an idea or several dozen in there for future tales.

Climate
What is the climate like on your fantasy/sci-fi world?  Have the residents wrecked it?  I’ve shown parts of the Fairy Kingdom made barren by having too much magic thrown at them during the magical wars.  How do your characters cope with adverse conditions, adversity in general?  Has the climate shaped your world in terms of geography, history, politics etc (in Britain’s case being an island has helped it in battle if only by getting us to be really good at seamanship)? 

Environmentalism
What happens to those who damage, deliberately or otherwise, your world’s environment or does nobody care?  Have you got a mental image of what your world is like?  I’ve based mine partly on Scotland (!), red rocky areas (Mars!) and part of it has rings around it (Saturn!!!).  Magical attitudes to wildlife in my Fairy Kingdom are ambivalent - nobody’s that keen on dragons - but equally Eileen’s been keen to ensure harmless species aren’t wiped out because the sprites get hysterical.  So what is the prevalent attitude in your world?  What is your environment like?

Landscapes
I’ve hinted at the Kingdom’s history and how it’s effected the landscapes of the realm in that magical wars have made parts of it barren.  That in turn has led to overcrowding in certain areas and the sprite attitude to reproduction (just get on with it basically!) causes a great deal of resentment amongst other species.  One problem leads to another and in turn another and makes your world seem more lifelike…  The trick is to get a good enough problem to trigger consequences you can write about.  I hope at some point to write more about the realm’s past but a sketch like this has got my world up and running.

Magical Hypocrisy
The Kingdom, whilst despising humanity for its warlike, greedy attitude to say nothing of its pollution of Earth, is more than happy to pinch what it considers to be good ideas.  Fairy-vision is an example of this though the jury is still out as to whether bringing television to a magical world, any world come to that, is all it’s cracked out to be.  Alcohol is the other big import and the Queen imbibes very happily, too much so at times as far as Eileen’s concerned.  The Queen also loves earth food and sees that as a harmless way of getting to know other cultures without actually having to deal with the people/beings themselves.  Eileen despises that attitude for the snobbery that it is.  The Queen’s Council is loosely based on the style of government Elizabeth I would have had and the Fairy Queen is vaguely aware of the similarities though disapproves.  She feels each world should have its own form of government but knows the Tudor Queen couldn’t possibly have copied her here or indeed at all!  The idea then that humans sometimes come up with reasonable systems of their own does not go down that well with Roxannadrell.  It’s much easier to despise humanity.

FNN
FNN would like to do a series of  history programmes on the fairy royals but neither Eileen nor the Queen are keen and without their co-operation the programmes won’t be made.  This is due to the fact FNN would need access to the royal files/Library and only these two can grant that. FNN know the Council are not very keen on them, they owe their existence to the fairy royals so won’t bite the hand that feeds them.  FNN sometimes try to persuade the Queen to allow them access here, knowing it’s a waste of time trying to get Eileen to change her mind, but to date have failed.  The Queen doesn’t trust them to stick to those royals with a reasonable record.  She thinks they want to dig up all the gossip and scandal concerning Queen Gwendolyn, great-grandmother to Roxannadrell and Eileen.  The one comfort the Queen has on all this is that it’s one of the few areas where she and Eileen are united.

The "Oomph" Factor
Have you given your tale enough “oomph”?  There should be no “boring bits” with information drip-fed in.  You need to alter the pace a bit as too much excitement is exactly that - too much - but too little and there is no story.  The “troughs” in between should give your reader information they’ll need to take your tale forward and a chance to get their breath back as it were, but not for too long.  Do play cat and mouse.  There should be a sense of something “coming”.

The Way Characters Speak
Do your characters speak in an appropriate way for how you’ve portrayed them?  L’Evallier I’ve deliberated portrayed as never using contractions, not even when stressed whereas the Queen sometimes will, partly to try to keep her “common touch” up and running.

Visualizing Your World
Can people visualize your world?  We don’t need an atlas or an in-depth history but enough details to see what you see when you write, enough to make it seem as if it could be real. 

Traits
Your characters may be the weirdest aliens imaginable or have intellect we humans can only dream of but they should still have traits we can identify with.  After all I think it’s a fairly safe bet to suggest the Daleks are a tad on the aggressive side but it’s how our hero overcomes that aggression that drives the Doctor Who stories.  No aggression = no Dalek.  No character trait = no character worth writing about.

Striving
What are your characters striving for?  What can they use to help them achieve their wishes?  If everyone can do magic, then that’s no story but if everyone can do magic but there are those who can do a lot more then you get a tale, if only based on the inevitable resentment of those who don’t have so much.

Drama
All stories have to have drama in them, regardless of their genre.  Does your tale have the right amount of tension in it?  Obviously thrillers, crime stories, horror will have more than romance, “cosy tales” and so on but each will need to have some in or there is literally no story.

Characterisation
Characterisation is vital.  I love writing about Eileen, someone for whom hypocrisy isn’t a problem and who in one of my own favourite lines tells Hanastrew “If she’d lost her head I’d have understood her complaints”!  You have to die to get sympathy from Eileen.  Tells you all about her quickly doesn’t it?  I love reading lines like that in other authors’ work and was so pleased when I came up with this one of mine.  Dialogue is a great joy to write.

Playing God and giving characters hell
All authors want to play God - fact. If you really want to know what your character is really like deep down, give them hell.  It’s the quickest way of finding out all you need to know even if the scene you draft out never makes it into your story.  Never make life easy for  your characters - that way tedium lies!

Using the senses
Jilly Cooper is a great advocate of the use of colour to bring scenes to life but use all the senses.  We do.  Why should your characters not do so?   An odd sentence here or there is enough to add colour to your story in this regard.  Characters need to eat, hear, touch etc.  It's a good way of drip feeding information in about your fictional world do.  What do  your characters eat, hear, touch etc?

Making a Drama Out of a Crisis - in fiction, a good thing!
What brings your character to the crisis in their life that forms the basis of your tale?  Don’t put in a huge block of narrative to explain this, drip feed the information, but the stronger the character, the greater the crisis they can face.  A stubborn person can create more crises for themselves than a passive one.  And are your characters distinguished enough from one another to stand out?

All books are useful of course but for writing I've found these especially helpful.

Have an up to date Writers and Artists Yearbook to hand.
For the listings, for the fact they don’t include those that might charge for publishing and for addresses, editor names etc. 

Have subscription to Writers’ News/Writing Magazine.
For good advice on all writing issues, for competitions and news of markets, especially short story ones.  To learn something of what is going on in the industry (though for more details it would pay to subscribe to The Bookseller or as I do visit their website often).  There are other writing magazines out there but this is the one I read most often.  Mslexia is useful for their wonderful diary, short story comp and writing from a women’s perspective but Writers’ News gives a wider range of markets.

Have reference books to hand
For me these would always  be a dictionary, thesaurus, Brewer’s Phrase and Fable, Chambers Book of Facts, a history, book of proverbs, Bible and so on. These are obviously for checking facts but also for direct inspiration.  Many a short story has come out of an old proverb!  Bible stories like Samson and Delilah can inspire a modern take on that – the themes of love, jealousy and betrayal are universal. Brewers makes for a wonderful read given it gives the source of phrases and fables.

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Using Your Own Experiences
Make sure when you use things from your own experience that everything you use you are happy to see in print (hopefully achieved!) and that nothing can come back to haunt you.  Generally speaking it is best to, for example, use feelings and then get your characters to expand them and take them in a direction appropriate for them and the story rather than get your character to reflect everything that actually happened to you.  Real life experiences should be treated like chilli powder - use very sparingly.  Also as I’ve said before it is your characters that matter, not how you feel, what happened to you and so on.  Characters should reflect, not copy exactly.  The irony is that so often real life things tend to sound not real in fiction.  There’s a reason for the saying truth is stranger than fiction…  what you seek in your fiction is the sense of truth.  You want folk to think yes, that could be.  And don’t lay it on thick with a trowel.  People will see through that.

Using Your Writing Experiences to Improve Your Editing
I’ve learned to cut more as I’ve written more.  You get a better feel for what is relevant and what isn’t. I enjoy the editing process, especially as you sense your story becoming tighter, better and the waffle comes out (and there’s always some!). It is important to let yourself write and then let yourself edit and treat the two as two separate tasks.  You don’t want your editing side to get in the way of your creative side.  And the things you cut might work their way into future stories if good enough.  Stick to the point of your story, always. 

Inspiration
Inspiration comes from my favourite authors, my love of fairytales and I adore the Shrek films.  I love the way that being an ogre and ugly doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the bad guy.  I read reasonably widely and love history though I am conscious I should read even more widely.  I fit in reading of professional magazines like Writers’ News and certain non-fiction books, which may help with my novels, as part of my writing routine.

My Inspiration
I wanted to write a story about a mother with a past, a past nobody could guess at.  I like the idea of a fairy godmother defecting due to earth due to falling in love and being fed up with magical power abuses by her own cousin. A character like Eileen who is prepared to break the rules, has no problem with hypocrisy and can whip out her wand and do something very nasty with it when the need arises is great fun to write about.  To begin with all I need was she was as awkward as they come - and awkward characters drop themselves in it, can trigger the tension that fuels any story.  Her weakness is the daughter she should never have had - the one being she will  not zap. I hope later to show Jenny’s magical skills developing and Eileen feeling a bit jealous and how she comes to terms with that.  After all as Pam Ayres so rightly states nobody likes a fairy when she’s 40 - or in Eileen’s case is as old as the hills and is aware Jenny could be the young replacement the Kingdom could well be looking for.  Nobody likes redundancy after all!

Characters' Reactions
Characters should strike sparks off each other, else no story, but those sparks should be realistic and believable.  Track records can be dropped into your story, a bit here, a bit there, which increases tension.   I’ve done this with Brankaresh and Eileen.  I’ve deliberately not had “one big argument scene” but hints here Eileen’s caught Brankaresh out with bad magical practice, hints there he resents her for it and so on.  Don’t dump information, drip feed it.  The former will slow your story up, the latter builds it.  With L’Evallier I’ve hinted at his noble background, so his formal style of speech comes as no surprise.  I’ve not gone into details about his posh schooling or anything like that.  Think brush strokes rather than laying it all on with a trowel.

Ending your World
Could your world come to an end?  If so, how?  If magic is involved, can that be misused to damage the physical world it’s set in?  In my novels, I’ve set up barren areas, made that way by having too much magic pounding them.  This has a knock on effect in forcing populations to move away and into other areas, causing tensions between the different groups (the sprites are generally condemned for having an irresponsible attitude to sex and reproduction - they are at it like rabbits!). 

Customs on your World
What are your world’s customs?  What does it do/say to those who rebel or don’t follow the customs “correctly”?  How does it react if someone shows up one or more of the customs as wrong?  Is there a history of dissidents or have you got a character blazing the way here?  Is the media controlled, directly or subtly? With FNN I have a snobby goblin, Roherum, keen to please the Queen so he’s not going to rock the boat.  Could someone be placed by your authorities deliberately to manipulate matters on their behalf?

Family Backgrounds
To help make your characters seem more real you should have some reference to their family background.  After all nobody comes from nowhere and while the family doesn’t have to appear in your short story or novel or whatever, it would be odd if your character doesn’t refer to them in some way, no matter how briefly.  After all what you make the character says here can show a great deal of how they interact (or not) with their family and the reader can speculate as to how they’re likely to get on with people in general and whether they’re likeable or not.  Also if the character gets on well with the family, do they do this to the exclusion of getting on with anybody else?  Do they look down on others?

Eileen's view on Humanity
I like Eileen seeing the good side of humanity when the Kingdom despises us for greed, pollution and warmongering and assumes there isn’t good left.  Jenny shows the struggle of being a half being - not belonging to either world and experiencing the clash between cultures. She sees the disadvantages to both worlds and is torn between them. Jenny resents her mother for dropping her in it.  Eileen put out by Jenny’s attitude.  She had not foreseen Jenny being so hostile, mainly on the grounds Jenny does owe her existence to her.  Eileen and Jenny end up fighting for their right to stay on earth and hate the Queen for trying to force them back. 

Economy of Words when Revealing Characters
I’ve always loved reading lines in other books where you can tell a lot about a character in that short section.  The first one I felt I did well was where in The Trouble With Mother Hanastrew complains about being made by Eileen to use the instant transport spell with its inherent risks of not having all your bits rematerialize properly with one girl recently losing an arm through the method.  Eileen’s retort if the girl had lost her head, she would’ve understood the complaints I was pleased with the moment I wrote it.  To get sympathy from this woman, you have to die!  Tells you all you need to know, yes?

Mixing Traits
Just as we have a mixture of good traits, bad habits and irritating traits, so should your characters.  Eileen is courageous, bends the rules and is as stubborn as they come.  How good that is depends on (a) what circumstances she is in and (b) who is on the receiving end of this.  The Queen does not approve at all.  Eileen is a pain in the neck to her and to Jenny yet when you want someone with grit to tackle the latest magical threat, Eileen is the one to call.

Adapting to Circumstances
How well do your characters adjust to circumstances and/or other characters as they change?  Jenny becomes more adept at magic and more aware of what her mother’s up to and Eileen is aware this is not necessarily a good thing as what she used to get away with, she can’t now.  How your characters react to and handle changes reveals a great deal about them...

Character Expressions
Show your characters’ expressions.  I tend to get Eileen to grimace a lot (!) (though to be fair she does have cause) and am aware I need to vary her expressions.  Also show your characters trying to hide what they really feel - after all we do it so why shouldn’t your creations?  What happens when a character fails to hide how they feel or shows their emotions to the wrong person?  What catastrophes could be unleashed? 

Characters and Business
How do your characters conduct business?  Have you got the Del Boy type?  What are the rules?  How are these circumvented (someone’s bound to try aren’t they?) and what are the punishments when folk are caught out?  Is there a fantasy Inland Revenue?!  (The mind boggles a bit here.  Can you imagine?  Instead of the £100 penalty fine per day if you’re late filing your return, the Fantasy Revenue could turn you into a toad, smash you into a pulp, cast imaginative curses if you put the wrong stamp on the envelope and so on!). 

Characters having their own lives
Let your characters have their own lives.  Whilst you invent them and control them, that control should not be to the extent they lose any sense of personality.  You don’t want puppets.  Leave them to Thunderbirds ….

The natural world on your fantasy world
Think about flora and fauna.  Even sci-fi/fantasy worlds have their ecosystems, predators and prey and so on.  And especially in a fantasy world have a look at how magic affects them.  For example does it make them more aggressive?  Do they need magic to live at all?  Could they survive on earth?  Would earth be beneficial or harmful with no magic about? #

Specialist characters
Does your world have specialists?  Eileen is a specialist in her field, as was Rose. Does that lead to envy in others or are the specialists left to it as they face more risks than most? • •What threatens your world?  Has it done anything to deserve it?

Reading - one of the great joys of writing
Read, read, read.  How can you enjoy writing without having a passionate love for the written word?  How can you write stories if you don't enjoy reading them? Not just the professional mags and blogs but novels, short stories, anything you yourself would like to write.  You do learn from what you read.  Sometimes when you come across a dire piece, you can still learn from it - what not to do!  The trick is to make sure that dire piece is not one of yours! 

Contemporary and Classic Fiction
Read contemporary fiction and classic.  You need to know what’s going on out there now (and no you won’t keep on top of it all) as well as having a fund of classics which inspire you.  After all the classic writers became that way for a reason - they’re good, very good!

Non-Fiction
Read non-fiction as well as fiction.  It may give you ideas to help you populate your fictional world - my Queen’s Chief Leader, L’Evallier, is roughly based on Queen Elizabeth I’s minister, William, Lord Burghley.  There I was looking for qualities as well as the similiarities in job.  Burghley was not afraid to criticize his boss and always spoke his mind.  She knew she needed that.  Makes for an interesting relationship - one where there are clashes but there’s always the unspoken question.  Will either of them take things too far?  Elizabeth almost did after the execution of Mary Stuart when she banished Burghley from Court for a while (and he was devastated by that).  L’Evallier becomes more outspoken as the novels go on… will he reach the point of no return?  And at the point of writing this I don’t know either!  It’ll be fun finding out, I hope.

Outlining
My outlines are not set in stone.  Nor should yours be.  Often I’ve outlined a short story to realize as I was writing it the outline would be more suitable for a tale of over 3000 words, way too long for most competitions.  In a sense I’ve not been sorry about this as it makes me re-evaluate my outline and story and make it sharper, tighter, bring it down to the bare bones as most short stories are around the 1500 to 2000 word mark so they have to be to the point.  But the biggest advantage of an outline is you can work out ideas first rather than start writing a tale and find you run out of steam.  I also don’t allow myself too long to do the outline.  A couple of sessions to work it out and then I get writing…  Outlines are there to help you write the tale, not to help you procrastinate (and there are so many fascinating writing blogs and books that can keep you away from what you should be doing - write!).

Keeping Copies and Records
Keep a copy of all you send out. Never send precious originals (this is even more pertinent for artwork and photos).  Items getting lost, postal strikes and spilled coffees happen!  Keep a record of what you send where and results.  Useful for accountancy purposes and to make sure you don’t send the same story to the same person twice (unless, of course, they’ve asked you to resubmit it, highly unlikely).  Also I’ve found using the Mslexia diary helpful – for one thing I’ve been overcome with the urge to fill the blank pages and the only way to do that is to get work out there.  The more work out, the greater the chances of success but it then becomes more vital to be able to track what you’ve sent where. 

Reading Your Work
Read your work out loud (to yourself, a friend, a recording device)  Vital for poetry, it’s also useful for prose, particularly dialogue.  If you trip over words so will your readers and then it’s time for the editing pen again!

Character Descriptions
I find physical descriptions of characters hard too.  I tend to focus on a trait - in Eileen’s case, stubbornness - and find that a useful starting point.  I also tend to hear voices, with images of what characters look like coming later.  Does it matter?  I don’t think so.  As long as you’ve got a distinctive view of what your character is and how they’re likely to behave in any given situation, the rest will follow.  Some authors prepare full bios for their characters.  I don’t but there are no rights and wrongs here.  It’s a question of finding the right method in character generation, the one that works for you.

Distinctive Dialogue
Ensure dialogue is distinctive for your characters too.  L’Evallier never contracts his speech whereas the Queen generally won’t but when under pressure the odd abbreviation will slip out.  As for Eileen, her speech is as direct as she is.  I can see the point of swearing to show a character under stress, to show their background, to show some of their attitudes but don’t like too much of the stuff.  I treat swearing like paprika or chilli - only use a little.

Family Backgrounds
To help make your characters seem more real you should have some reference to their family background.  After all nobody comes from nowhere and while the family doesn’t have to appear in your short story or novel or whatever, it would be odd if your character doesn’t refer to them in some way, no matter how briefly.  After all what you make the character says here can show a great deal of how they interact (or not) with their family and the reader can speculate as to how they’re likely to get on with people in general and whether they’re likeable or not.  Also if the character gets on well with the family, do they do this to the exclusion of getting on with anybody else?  Do they look down on others?

Give your characters hell.
Characters aren’t meant to have a quiet life in fiction!  You wouldn’t read a quiet book, would you?  Do you know your characters’ individual stress levels?  There’s many a tale to be told showing where characters crack and the consequences of that cracking. 

Secrets
What secrets do your characters have? Who else knows them?  Who could find them out if they suspected anything was up?  Corruption exists in any world, why not your fantasy one? 

Relaxation
How do your characters relax?  Who do they relax with?!!  Are there sports/hobbies your fantasy world encourages (and why) or disapproves of (and why)?  And are there pets of any kind?  If not, why not?

Cutting
I’ve learned to cut more as I’ve written more.  You get a better feel for what is relevant and what isn’t. I enjoy the editing process, especially as you sense your story becoming tighter, better and the waffle comes out (and there’s always some!). 

Creating and Editing
It is important to let yourself write and then let yourself edit and treat the two as two separate tasks.  You don’t want your editing side to get in the way of your creative side.  And the things you cut might work their way into future stories if good enough.  Stick to the point of your story, always. I edit, and edit, and edit.  First edit is to get rid of repetition, including all unnecessary adjectives.  Second edit is to look at the plot as a whole.  Does it work?  Is anything missing?  By the time I get to a third read through and edit, I can usually spot where I can tighten the novel up further.  At that point I think about sending it off somewhere!

Writing Routine
Over time I’ve got into a routine of writing in the evenings (I’m more than happy to give up TV) and stick to it.  My brain slips into “writing time” as I sit at my desk at roughly the same time each night.  I schedule in my writing time so all my jobs are done during the day as I’m one of those people who can’t relax enough to write if I’ve anything outstanding.  It does bug me!  And above all I keep going.  Persistence is a virtue!

Writing Novels
I write novels long-hand and then use the typing up as my first edit.  I  usually manage to get rid of repetition during this process.  I didn’t plan my first novel out in detail, it kind of evolved over time, but now I do work out plot details first.  Does that stifle creativity?  I don’t think so.  I’ve found it triggers ideas and I can work out which of these I can use and where I can put them into my novel before actually writing it.  It helps me not to go off the tangent and a plan helps me see gaps so I can then fill them in so I don’t write myself into a corner.

Over time I’ve got into a routine of writing in the evenings (I’m more than happy to give up TV) and stick to it.  My brain slips into “writing time” as I sit at my desk at roughly the same time each night.  I schedule in my writing time so all my jobs are done during the day as I’m one of those people who can’t relax enough to write if I’ve anything outstanding.  It does bug me!  And above all I keep going.  Persistence is a virtue!

I write novels long-hand and then use the typing up as my first edit.  I  usually manage to get rid of repetition during this process.  I didn’t plan my first novel out in detail, it kind of evolved over time, but now I do work out plot details first.  Does that stifle creativity?  I don’t think so.  I’ve found it triggers ideas and I can work out which of these I can use and where I can put them into my novel before actually writing it.  It helps me not to go off the tangent and a plan helps me see gaps so I can then fill them in so I don’t write myself into a corner.

I edit, and edit, and edit.  First edit is to get rid of repetition, including all unnecessary adjectives.  Second edit is to look at the plot as a whole.  Does it work?  Is anything missing?  By the time I get to a third read through and edit, I can usually spot where I can tighten the novel up further.  At that point I think about sending it off somewhere!

I write most days (holidays and Christmas excepting and even then I write extra on the days before and around  it to make up for it).  I also have a “creative” session where I’m writing something new and an “editing” session where I’m preparing another piece prior to getting it out.  Doing things this way makes sure I exercise both parts of my brain (left = creative, right= editor according to items I’ve read) and again ensures I always have something on the go. 

I outline everything I write first now (from a couple of lines for a poem so I know where I’m heading to a page for a short story or several pages for a novel).  I’ve found outlines keep me on tangent and it’s easy enough to slip in ideas as they occur as I’m writing into my plan.  Only the Ten Commandments are set in stone after all!  I save everything to my hard disk and memory stick.  

The Natural World
Does your world have flora and fauna?  Any similarities to that found on earth or are they different due to the nature of the world they’re in?  What are the prey/predator creatures?  Does magic pollute  non-magical creatures?  A lot of the issues affecting earth could be adapted to produce stories for your world.

The Politicial World
Is the government of your world accountable?  Based on an earth system or is it unique to its situation?  What happens to those who question it, rebel against it or do both, as in Eileen’s case?  Do the people or other species of choice able to vote?  Are certain species barred from voting?  Why?  What happens when your world faces external threats?  Is there the equivalent of a UN or NATO?  Does your world have traitors and who do they seek to betray and why?

The Historical World
Grudges cast long shadows.  Things from the past affecting today form the basis of many a great story.  Anything you can use here?  And bear in mind that a character’s development takes time.  Eileen has become awkward because she has become fed up with being “used”.  The Witch wants to take the Kingdom to avenge slights, real and imagined, on her family by the fairy royals.  The Witch “forgets” her own family attacked the royals, naturally the royals were going to fight back.  Does your setting have a history, which may well affect your characters?  The Fairy Kingdom has a history of wars between witches, wizards and fairies, leading to barren areas, which in turn is leading to overpopulation in certain parts of the realm.  This led to Eileen suggesting the more responsible magical beings living, in disguise, on other worlds.  She got shouted down yet she knows this issue won’t just go away no matter how much the Queen and Council try to ignore it.  Has your world got issues it needs to face?  What is its system of government?  If your world seems real to you, it should seem real to your readers.  And every world has to be run by someone - someone with a past, character traits that can benefit the realm/cause it great problems.  There’s got to be some great stories in that!

The Personal World
Have your characters got enough to play for?  Their ambition has got to be strong enough.  It’s no good just wishing for something to happen.  Have they the means, or the ability to find the means, to achieve t hem?  What will they do to achieve them?  Have they got limits? Can they see to the end of the road?  Do they know where they want to end up?


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Ask questions about your tales like:-

    How are your characters’ basic needs met? 

    What is the hierarchy (and there has to be at least one, someone has to be top dog)?

    How is your world governed? Are there rules nobody can break?  What are the reasons?
   
    In dealing with magic, can everybody produce the same amount?  Or do certain groups have more magic than others?  Can those lower down the scale “earn” or “learn” more magic to bring them closer to their superiors?

    What happens if someone defies the basic rules or some lowly herbert betters themselves magically so they become superior?  What would the fall out be?

    What happens if someone from the superior class magically speaking rebels against that or the structures of your society?

    In a fantasy/sci-fi world, how do your characters communicate?  I’ve got the Kingdom “borrowing” ideas from earth and adapting them for their use. 

    Could everyday items we take for granted be misused on another world or even be a threat?  Could these items be turned and used against us?

BASIC TIP and WHY USEFUL? 

Outline your work. 
It’ll keep you on tangent.  It isn’t necessary to go into everything.  For the novels, I outline what has to happen in each chapter but not necessarily what leads between each scene unless I have thought of something immediately.  I like a novel plan to be flexible enough to allow for ideas as you go (that should happen, as it shows your story’s “alive”) so you can fit them in but to give enough of a structure to prove (a) I have one (!) and (b) I know where the tale’s going to end up even if I don’t know the exact ending.  For short stories, I outline the character and focus on one point of change (there’s generally not enough room for more given the limited word count).

Keep a copy of all you send out. 
Never send precious originals. This is even more pertinent for artwork and photos.  Items getting lost, postal strikes and spilled coffees happen! 

Keep records
Keep a record of what you send where and results. Useful for accountancy purposes and to make sure you don’t send the same story to the same person twice (unless, of course, they’ve asked you to resubmit it, highly unlikely).  Also I’ve found using the Mslexia diary helpful – for one thing I’ve been overcome with the urge to fill the blank pages and the only way to do that is to get work out there.  The more work out, the greater the chances of success but it then becomes more vital to be able to track what you’ve sent where.

Read Work out loud
Read your work out loud (to yourself, a friend, a recording device)  Vital for poetry, it’s also useful for prose, particularly dialogue.  If you trip over words so will your readers and then it’s time for the editing pen again! 

Fresdian
Fresdian, later Rose, is the Fairy Kingdom’s equivalent of David Attenborough and is devoted to all things flora and fauna.  Going to earth later merely gives her a marvellous opportunity to study flora and fauna elsewhere.  She has been to be out in all weathers so rambling is a major part of her life too.  And she wears good, sturdy practical clothing so she has one eye on fashion - the fashion suitable for a country lady rather than for some silly girl.  Fresdian wouldn’t dream of trying to impress any  male!  Fresdian is also a great secret keeper.  She keeps from everyone the fact she is of the fairy godmother class.  She saw what happened to Eileen and is determined it should never happen to her.  Had Fresdian fulfilled her proper duties and joined Eileen in fighting all things evil the way she was meant to, there is a strong possibility that Eileen would never have defected.  On the other hand, Fresdian knows Eileen owes her happy marriage and indirectly Jennifer to that secrecy.

Stan and Wes
Stanrock and Whespy (later Stan and Wes) are the mischievous sprites’ sprites.  There are very few practical jokes they have not carried out  and for a long time this was the nearest they got to any kind of hobby.  They also spent  lot of time fighting - other sprites, anybody else annoying them and, most of all, each other.  Stan is a good cook and carries on with this when he’s on earth.  Wes develops courage and bravery but hasn’t really taken to any hobby.  If he can get his act together with Isabel, maybe that would be something she could encourage.  Isabel would know better than to try to improve his mind (you have to work with the material you’ve got!) but I can see her encouraging him to read (even if it is graphic comics and novels, they would not count as proper literature in her eyes but she’d be too glad he read anything 9she’d overlook it - this is one view not shared by me.  Graphic novels, when well done, are great).  Both sprites might get into earth music when they’re there but they’d take to loud pop/rock.  They did develop a taste for wildlife programmes, encouraged by Fresdian (Rose).