2021 was as unpredictable and uneven as the year-that-must-not-be-named that came before. Whilst some things have changed, others have stayed the same. Personally, I'm grateful for my health and the health of my friends and family, and that I've been able to get out a bit more than I did last year. Book-wise I finished... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
It's been a quite while since I posted anything specifically about my Work in Progress, "The Cauldron Trilogy". I'm happy to say I've finished the first draft or the first book, and something I've called the "pre-edit". I'm now working on the first proper edit and taking a more meticulous approach than I've done for... Continue Reading →
It's always worth doing a bit of research before you travel, whether it be to somewhere you've been before or somewhere new. Before a recent walk, I did a bit of a search of the local area and discovered an authors grave I hadn't visited before. So I took a quick detour to St Mary's... Continue Reading →
Writing should be simple - pen, paper, write (or screen, keyboard, write). But like pretty much everything in life, we humans have tried to make it complicated. We've put up barriers that prospective writers have to vault over in order to be considered "proper" writers. And whilst I think there are some things you do... Continue Reading →
We all have a comfort zone in life - and in our writing. And people often talk about pushing outside of it. But with writing, people (as in readers) are pretty accepting of the comfort zone. We don't mind that Stephen King has found his groove in horror, or that Jane Austen only wrote romantic... Continue Reading →
The characters in your books are the heart and soul of your story. As a writer you need spend time on them or your book won't have the same impact. There are plenty of novels out there where the characters are used as fleshy footballs, kicked around by the dominant plot. But I'm not going... Continue Reading →
Storytelling is the backbone of being a writer, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. And there are many places to learn storytelling; books (obviously), but also art, music, films and TV. But there's another a genre you might have overlooked - video games. The computer games industry is a relative newcomer to the world of entertainment.... Continue Reading →
Editing your writing is a long process. There's no magic wand for it, nor a whistle that blows when your done. But before you send it off, hit print, or self-publish, it's good to do one last sweep to make sure the basics don't let you down. Here's a checklist to help. Spelling Your built-in... Continue Reading →
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