The empty world – is your novel eerily deserted?
This is me, passing before your eyes as an extra in Clint Eastwood’s film Hereafter . (Here’s my post about it, since you ask. Back now? On we go.) Blink and you’d miss me because your eye would quite...
View ArticleFinal edits – what do you look for?
When your novel is as familiar as the sight of your two hands typing, what do you miss? I always find that when I’ve got the plot watertight, the physical consistencies sorted, there’s another pass I...
View Article3 tips for writing watertight fantasy, science fiction and time travel stories
You could argue that fantasy and science fiction are the genres where we can be most imaginative and inventive. But this very freedom brings responsibility. I see a lot of science fiction and fantasy...
View Article‘This album makes me feel that anything is possible’ – The Undercover...
My writing post this week has a science fiction flavour. And my Undercover Soundtrack guest will continue the theme with the music that helped her write her debut, also sci-fi. She says she uses music...
View ArticleBring on the empty horses: handle synonyms with care
I have a friend who is French, and despite years of living in England, he uses a vocabulary that is sometimes unintentionally hilarious. He became a legend when he referred to a top-down convertible as...
View ArticleNovels aren’t movies – how to write great description in prose
Do you learn your storytelling from movies as much as from prose? Many of us do. While certain principles can be learned well from both media, others can’t. I’ve already discussed a few points in...
View ArticleNovels aren’t movies – how to handle passage of time in prose
Do you learn your storytelling from movies as much as from prose? Many of us do. While certain principles translate well between the two story media, others don’t. I’ve already discussed a few general...
View Article10 eye-opening tips to add impact to your storytelling
When I work with a writer on their first serious novel manuscript, there are certain aspects they usually get right on instinct alone. There’s the content – a believable story world, characters with...
View ArticleHow to write emotions and feelings
I’ve had a request from EJ Runyon (who you might recognise as an Undercover Soundtrack contributor). She’s asked me, quite simply, to talk about writing emotions and feelings. Emotions and feelings are...
View Article7 swift storytelling hacks for back story, description, dialogue, exposition,...
I’ve just finished a developmental edit and, as always, I enjoyed how it refreshed my appreciation of storytelling essentials. I thought I’d share them here in case they’re useful. Back story… Don’t...
View ArticleToo much TV might spoil your… prose writing
I’m aware the title of this blogpost might sound like old-fogey nagging, but it has a serious point. And, to reassure you, the cure is easy. We learn storytelling from just about anything, and much of...
View ArticleOnce more with feeling – some notes about description
What’s description for? I’ve been working with an author and one of her issues was her use of description. Is the purpose of description to show the reader what something looks like? The setting, for...
View ArticleYour first pages – 4 more book openings critiqued at @Litopia by literary...
I’ve just guested again at Litopia, the online writers’ colony and community. Each week they have a YouTube show, Pop-Up Submissions, where four manuscripts are read and critiqued live on air by...
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