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How to Research a Location You Haven't Actually Been To

So far I’ve been able to visit most of the locations I’ve used in my books. My settings range from Edinburgh to the south coast of France, and they are all within easy reach for me. But sometimes it’s just not possible to get to the place you want to write about. I used to agonise about this. I like to “see” exactly what it is my characters see. Continue reading How to Research a Location You…

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How Writing a Novel is Like Raising an Unruly Child

Maybe you’re not so keen on the story you’re writing. Or maybe you’ve finished your novel already (stranger things have happened). Or maybe you’re so sick of your characters that you’ve written them off a bridge and replaced them with new ones. I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest. Continue reading How Writing a Novel is Like Raising an Unruly Child

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Top 10 Things You Need to Consider If You Want to Write Comedy

I’ve been asked numerous times (less than 3) on how do I get in the mood to write comedy. Only on rare occasions (more than 390 times a year) do these answers haunt the back of my mind.  This is not a winning formula or a how to episode, but more along the lines of ten things we must do in order to write comedy. Continue reading Top 10 Things You Need to Consider If You Want to Write Comedy

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What is Your Character's Fatal Flaw?

If you look at great characters in literature, they each have a flaw which drives the plot forward. I strongly believe that one of the most important pieces of advice for writing a character is to give them a “fatal” flaw. Continue reading What is Your Character’s Fatal Flaw?

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Why Choose Indie Publishing?

With the release of my debut novel, Mist Falcon, I’ve been asked why I decided to indie publish.  Inherent in the undertone of this question lies a second question, perhaps more to the point: was my book not good enough to be “really” published?  Couldn’t you find a traditional publisher to work with? Continue reading Why Choose Indie Publishing?

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7 Writing Rules For Fiction

Overwhelmed by fiction-writing advice? Me too, and I’m an editor as well as a writer. Everyone and anyone who has a blog or website seems to be keen on throwing in their penny’s worth. A lot of it is genuinely good advice. But what works for them won’t necessarily be right for you. Continue reading 7 Writing Rules For Fiction

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Writing for Others–Writing for Yourself

Writers are often asked if they write for themselves or for others. In some ways, it’s a meaningless question: most authors wouldn’t have chosen such an uncertain profession if they didn’t obtain personal satisfaction from the process itself, and it’s impossible for a published author to completely ignore the problem of what other people will think. (This can range from writing with a large…

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3 Things to Do When You Can't Use Your Favorite Writing Style

As long-time readers of this site probably know, I’ve been dabbling with longer writing projects over the past year or so. Well, after an attempt at writing a sci-fi horror thriller novel failed at about 21,000 words into the story, I tried to work out what had gone wrong. Continue reading 3 Things to Do When You Can’t Use Your Favorite Writing Style

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Story Stuff: L is For Likable vs Livable

Sometimes I hear gripes from critique partners or beta readers that one of my characters isn’t likable (I won’t say which characters because I don’t want to poison the well, in case any of you want to read my stuff). After making sure I haven’t created an unnecessary asshole, I ask myself this question – does the character have to be likable? Or just livable? Continue reading Story Stuff: L is…

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Chapters: Are They Too Big?

It’s quite common when writing a novel to realize that your chapters have very different sizes. You may wonder: is this okay? Is there some standard length for a chapter? Not at all. Chapters are actually not as important as they might seem in the finished book. They are huge bags where you put some scenes, so the reader can give himself small goals while reading your book. The scenes are the…

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How to Stop Judging Your Own Writing So Harshly

Have you been extra nice to yourself lately? If you’re a writer … the answer is probably: “…Mayyyybe?” Writers — creators in general — are way too hard on themselves. We like making things, we feel good doing it. But we really want to feel like we’re doing a good job. Continue reading How to Stop Judging Your Own Writing So Harshly

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Books For Children: A Writing Challenge With Very Specific Rules

Would you like to write a children’s book? Most writers have their own favorite genre, and that reveals in their stories. Yet, sometimes, you want to do something different. Writing for adults and children are two distinct things and demand different skills. When you think about children’s books, you probably picture beautiful drawings, full of color and sweet characters. It may scare you right…

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Write Everyday, Even If You Hate It

For the last three weeks, I was forced to write everyday in order to complete a presentation for an English symposium and to complete my creative writing portfolio for a public reading (each are requirements of my major and emphasis). The problem initially was my lack of enthusiasm. I have, in the past, written not based on routine or discipline, but because I like writing and I enjoy it…

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The Art of Showing Vs. Telling

Showing Vs. telling is one of the most difficult things to get right as a fiction writer. So much so that even the best of the best struggle with this art-form, resulting in edit after edit to ensure that they have the perfect balance. Continue reading The Art of Showing Vs. Telling

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How to "Show, Don't Tell"

I’m still getting used to the life of a self-published author, particularly in this age of Amazon and customer reviews. Authors are advised that books need to have reviews, the more reviews the better, even those which are not entirely positive. Continue reading How to “Show, Don’t Tell”

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Why You Need Realistic Writing Expectations

As you gear up for a new year of writing, it’s important to set expectations and goals. Just “hoping to write a novel this year” probably won’t result in a lot of work, so how will you approach it? A certain number of pages a day? A goal of a chapter a week? A month? Or just “progress every month,” and see where life takes you? Continue reading Why You Need Realistic Writing Expectations

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The Rundown of Beta Reading

Definition of a beta reader: A beta reader is a non-professional reader who reads a written work, generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to find and improve elements such as grammar and spelling, as well as suggestions to improve the story, its characters, or its setting. Continue reading The Rundown of Beta Reading

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