24 Dec 2011
The Last Year of Father Christmas
In the weeks before his eighth Christmas, Adam began to doubt the existence of Father Christmas. It wasn’t the proliferation of store Santas he saw every time he trailed his mother round the shops, all of them so different despite the red and white uniform, nor the fact that the queues to see them were filled mostly with children younger than him that raised suspicion, though these things played on his... read more
24 Nov 2011
NoNoWriMo
So it’s November and all the cool writing kids are two thirds of the way through tapping out their 50,000 words. NaNoWriMo is on the cover of the writing blogs. There are posts galore about how to get over the mid-month slump, how to keep hitting your daily target, how to avoid doing anything other than write, write, write. But what about those of us not taking part? What about those writers with too... read more
12 Oct 2011
Defeating Your Inner Critic the Chekhov Way
A writer’s greatest critic is himself. No matter how revered the author, how successful the work, there is always that little voice, the dark passenger, the inner critic, ready to rip apart an infant piece of work before it has had time to find its feet. This lack of confidence, this inner doubt, this voice telling me no one would want to read what I was writing was the single greatest cause behind my... read more
5 Sep 2011
Much Against Everyone’s Advice
The general consensus amongst agents and publishers (those who blog at least) is that the emerging author is best served by choosing a genre to work in and sticking to it. In doing so the books become a brand and the reader is able to pick up each successive book confident that the contents will appeal. There is no escaping that, for many if not most authors and particularly those with a yearning to write... read more
20 Aug 2011
The Future Is Now
Johnny: The future is now. Brian: But the present does exist. We’re in it now. Johnny: You were just then, when you said it, but you’re not in it now, you’re not in it now, you’re not in it now. You’re forever being kicked up the arse by the future. You with me? Brian: That’s what I mean. See, I’m in the present, but I’m not in the present. I’m in the... read more
6 Jul 2011
Plot Is…….
Plot and story are not the same thing. Many writers, and I myself have fallen foul of this distinction, make the mistake of confusing the two. To be clear going in: Story is everything that happens in the tale you want to tell, all the delicious catastrophes that you heap upon your characters to create tension, suspense, conflict or entertainment. You are the Emperor of your own Coliseum and the story is... read more
27 Jun 2011
Hell is not other writers
“Hell is other people.” — Jean-Paul Sartre (No Exit: A Play in One Act) Last year I got my first real taste of collaborative prose writing as one of twenty authors included in 2010′s Chinese Whisperings: The Yin and Yang books. The concept of Chinese Whisperings is elegantly simple: short fiction anthologies in which each story ripples into the next. Only with the 2010 offering things... read more
10 May 2011
Writing Beautiful and Unique Snowflakes
‘…you’re not how much money you’ve got in the bank. You’re not your job. You’re not your family, and you’re not who you tell yourself…. You’re not your name…. You’re not your problems…. You’re not your age…. You are not your hopes.’ ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 18 Writing courses and sites often espouse... read more
