Category Writing
I spent a morning recently building some interactive online dashboards as part of my day job. It was not exciting work and mostly it was frustrating, as software wouldn’t co-operate, or connections fell over halfway through trying to achieve a thing. I… Continue Reading →
I wrote too much this week.* I mean too much of one thing. I had writer burnout. I am trying to maintain a steady 1500 words a day, similar to the NaNoWriMo daily target wordcount. It’s more than doable, even… Continue Reading →
I first read Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks a couple of years ago, when it was published amid a slew of well-known authors venturing into fanfiction. There was this by the award-winning Faulks, but also Emma by Alexander… Continue Reading →
I’m very nearly done with the first draft of the book. Very nearly. I just have a couple of scenes to write near the end, plus some backfill to do at the start. This means it’s time to do what… Continue Reading →
This quick post is to give some ideas for wordcount boosters for Nanowrimo-which will, I hope, make it into in your finished novel as worldbuilding or character reveal scenes. I have used each of these and found they are generally good… Continue Reading →
Here are 30 strategies which I use to write a novel in 30 days. It can be used for Nanowrimo, or whenever you need to just get that first draft done. Divvy up the action. It’s 1660 words a day… Continue Reading →
I’m reading Longbourn, which re-tells Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ point of view. It is not a new idea to imagine a classic as told by a minor character (see Wide Sargasso Sea, Mists of Avalon …) but it made me wonder about more… Continue Reading →
I’m currently writing a fast and horrible first draft. Fast because I have the attention span of a gnat on Red Bull, and horrible because I need to just rattle out ideas regardless of style or grace. To do this I… Continue Reading →
National Novel Writing Month requires you to complete a 50,000 word work of fiction in 30 days. If your typing is speedy, this is quite achievable. But what you choose to write for Nanowrimo can scupper you before you start. Follow theses guides… Continue Reading →
One of the key points in Blake Snyder’s guide to writing is that a compelling storyline has something ironic about it. CS Lakin says the same thing – she demands that a story has a kicker, an ironic aspect that turns an… Continue Reading →