Number three in my "3 Things..." series and it's all getting a bit scary. We're delving into the horror genre to see what writers can learn from the mysterious and terrifying. 1) How to generate suspense Horror thrives on suspense. Horror writers must build and sustain an atmosphere, something that prickles at the sense of... Continue Reading →
Young Ivy explores a mysterious building in the middle of a field and meets its ghoulish resident in “Feed the Little Children”.Lee and his friends dare each other to travel down “Creek End”, a street no adult can see.David faces deadly temptation in a parallel universe in “Mr Spectors' Circumstances have Changed”.“Effigy” tells the tale... Continue Reading →
Waverly Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England founded in 1128. Unfortunately, being built on a flood plain, it was flooded more than once, leaving the inhabitants at the mercy of poverty and famine. The ruins are sparse but give the impression of how impressive the abbey would have looked in its day. There's a... Continue Reading →
The second in my "3 Things" series about what writers can learn from various genres and today we're onto romance. I'm not much of a romance reader specifically but as you'll see romance informs a lot of books out there. 1) How to write relationships Relationships are at the heart of romance books. Romantic ones... Continue Reading →
Chances are if asked to imagine a castle, you'd think of something like Arundel Castle. Towering above the small historic town it gets its name from, the castle has it all - towers, slit windows, a portcullis, moat, ginormous walls. It's the kind of castle where it's easy to imagine medieval knights and ladies. But... Continue Reading →
Here's the first in a new series of blog posts I'm calling "3 Things". The idea is simple - I'll be going through a series of genres identifying 3 things that ALL writers can learn from them, no matter what your particular preference is. So without further ado let's start with one of my favourite... Continue Reading →
Books are obviously a thing I love, but so are miniatures. I've loved dolls houses ever since I was a kid and had a well-loved bunch of Sylvanian Families playsets along with various collections of small things. So perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the things on my 2020 writing Christmas gift post was a mini DIY... Continue Reading →
Despite the name, Wayland's Smithy is actually a neolithic burial chamber found in Wiltshire, a county covered in remnants of the ancient past. The name of the place has apparently been in play since at least AD 955. It was called ‘Weland’s Smithy’ in a Saxon charter. So why Wayland's Smithy? As with most prehistoric... Continue Reading →
Your characters guide your readers through your writing. They're who they like, love, hate, or puzzle over. So you need to dedicate a bit of your book to describing them. But your character descriptions shouldn't just be a list of attributes - you're not a witness to a crime! So how do you effectively and... Continue Reading →
It's probably a matter of when not if you get stuck with your writing. No matter how well planned your plot, or brilliantly defined your characters, you're almost guaranteed to hit a wall. These are temporary bumps, less alll-consuming than writers block, but no less frustrating. Why writing walls appear If you've planned your book... Continue Reading →
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