Writing Tips: Leave Well Enough Alone

There are two places where a writer needs to be able to know when to stop: editing and ending.

Season's Greetings

A very merry Christmas to you all, or merry any other festival you may be celebrating at this time of year, or else just general merriness. I hope all your days are going well.

I've not forgotten my promise, that's coming in a bit.

'Twas the Night Before the Night Before Christmas

It's Christmas Eve tomorrow, and over here we're just about ready for Christmas: tomorrow we have to collect the turkey from the butcher and cook the ham, but the decorations are up, the living room smells agreeably of tree, the cupboards are full of yummy things. All my Christmas shopping is done, presents wrapped and round the tree with most of the rest of the family's, and I've had a good feel and shake of most of them.

Pearls of Wisdom: Water Your Christmas Tree

It's almost Christmas and I expect that a fair proportion of my readers will be celebrating it as either a religious or national holiday. I suspect that a fair few of you will have a Christmas tree.
If it's a real one, water it. You can find stands that hold the tree upright in a reservoir which you can fill with water. We got one a few years ago, and as well as being a good stand - doesn't fall over - the tree seems to keep its needles better.
My other tip is to shop around. We usually get a very nice tree at a very reasonable price from a couple of blokes who bring a van full of them to Morrisons carpark.

If you have an artificial tree, it won't want watering, probably comes with a stand and you'll only have to buy one once. But it won't smell of pine.

Things I Have Written

Since this is now a writer's blog, it seems vaguely reasonable to tell you about the things I have written. Most of it is works in progress, which I don't really want to publish bits of, but I have in the past perpetrated fanfiction (Discworld), some of which is published here: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2131135/gbfpotw and which you can read if you really want to (reviews very, very welcome). Of my published fics, Damned Bloody Assassins is in progress, but more-or-less on hold for the forseeable, as is a one-shot not yet published.

Pearls of Wisdom: Just Say No

The world will not end if you tell your cat 'no'.

Pearls of Wisdom: You're never Going to be Safe

Avoiding anything that could potentially harm you causes death by explosive decompression.