(and, no, Courtly Love was not married to Curt Cobain… ) Modern romance (and modern romance readers) owe a debt of gratitude to the dark ages for the development of …read more »
Articles
Whenever I write something for an article or a blog that seems useful or of interest to new writers or is just generally related to writing or words, I will copy it here either as a webpage or as a PDF. The contents of this entire website (including the articles linked below) are copyright © Nikki Logan and cannot be reproduced without permission.
For permission contact Nikki
The origins of romance – Courtly (‘chivalric’) love
10 Ways to ‘out’ yourself as a newbie
It’s not hard to get carried away by the excitement of your first book, first submission, first website. It’s pretty exciting stuff. But… when approaching agents, publishers or seasoned writers …read more »
Why good writers aren’t automatically good authors
Being an author is only partly about being a writer. Lots of people who write well, don’t necessarily write well across-the-board. Someone proficient in government report writing may have style-guide …read more »
Why time is like sex…
Time is like sex. We all think everyone else has more of it and that it’s somehow better quality than the sex we have. Well, just like sex, they’re not. …read more »
Remembrance Day (Lest we Forget)
The Power of Words Eleventh hour | Eleventh day | Eleventh month Today, member countries of the Commonwealth (particularly) recall those who lost their lives during the many engagements of …read more »
Find & Replace – A writer’s best friend
First published in HeartsTalk Magazine(Romance Writers of Australia) in 2010 © Nikki Logan A few years back, on the eve of a competition and when I was super new to this …read more »
In Defence of the Cliche
When has a word concept ever been such an anathema as the dreaded cliche? Writers fear it, readers bristle at it. Yet it’s often confused with its cousin, stereotype, and …read more »
What’s in a Name?
I was intrigued to see a recent social network thread in which readers and some writers indicated that they won’t read a book where a character has an apostrophe in …read more »
Genre Knockers (Popular/Commercial Fiction)
The question was asked by someone new on a commercial writer’s loop “what is ‘literary fiction’?” and the best answer (by far) was “What the rest of us support.” Literary …read more »
To Comp or Not to Comp
Writing competitions can be enormously useful if you approach them with balance and detachment and don’t give them too much importance in the greater scheme of your writing. They are …read more »
The importance of payoff
Recently I had cause to contemplate the value of romantic fulfilment in a romance novel. It seems obvious to say a romance novel should contain romance, but it appears that …read more »
Storytelling Genes
This month I celebrate a significant birthday–one that ends in a zero and starts in a four. Several years ago, I made myself the commitment that I would be published-by-forty. …read more »
The Natural Order of Things (Writing effectively)
First published in HeartsTalk Magazine, February 2010 As an author, it’s not enough to assume that your engagement with your story will translate to readers. Ask anyone who’s had …read more »
Writing for Harlequin Romance/Sweet
First published in HeartsTalk Magazine, 2010 It could happen to you. It could! It happened to Melissa James, Michelle Douglas, Barbara Hannay and— more recently—me! We are four of the …read more »
