Category Challenge
The call, when it came, wasn’t even for her. The doorbell woke Karen at three in the afternoon, ringing again and again as if someone were punching it with the flat of their hand. She grabbed at her phone, an… Continue Reading →
Callum liked digging. The literal unearthing of ancient things – what could be better? Gold earrings or pottery, it didn’t matter, what was important was finding them. Revealing history, he called it. “All of history is there, under the grass,… Continue Reading →
Excavating a crypt is dangerous work, especially when it’s occupied. Reverend John Small carried a lamp and pickaxe, and checked every couple of minutes that his phone still had signal. Even so, he felt a crushing presence all around him,… Continue Reading →
At the end of August I completed the 100 Day Book program from The Write Practice. From the middle of May, I had committed to a daily word count, and a weekly share of my work, and giving weekly feedback on… Continue Reading →
What to do with your writing when it’s done? You have written something. You’re pleased with it. You want to share it with everyone you know and everyone you don’t. But… wait. Take these steps before you paste it on… Continue Reading →
So you’ve taken on a 7 day creative writing challenge, or a story a day challenge, and now you have to deliver. But how do you create a complete draft of a story in just one day (and do it… Continue Reading →
7 day creative writing challenge. Story a day in May. These are the kinds of challenges I cannot resist, but right now I must, because of various Real Life things which require my time and energy. But … I really… Continue Reading →
K – Klingons on the starboard bow: my most successful fanfic ever and what to include in a hit story
I never expected to write a Star Trek fanfic. I always liked the TV show as a kid, but was in the ‘OK but no great fan’ level of interest. I like SF, but I couldn’t name any specific episode… Continue Reading →
Ah, description. Beloved of Victorian novelists and fantasy writers everywhere. How I loathe it. What? But why? Because mostly it doesn’t do anything, just sits there looking pretty and forming no useful purpose. It’s wordplay, which for its own sake… Continue Reading →
This post is part of the April blogging AZChallenge. Today it’s A. I struggle with antagonists. Almost all of my early stories have no antagonist at all. Or rather, none that is embodied in a handy walking, talking bad guy on… Continue Reading →