Usually, when I sit at my desk in the morning, it is to silence. There is no music, the phone is ignored and no one is around. Essentially, I work to exam conditions (but without a scary exam lady watching over me). I need to be free of distractions to be able to turn inside…
Category: writer’s block
Welcome to NaNoWriMo 2017
There is just one day to the start of NaNoWriMo 2017 and while I won’t be participating this year (I am currently mid-manuscript), I thought I’d share a few things I learnt last year. Work with your most developed story idea. This might seem obvious, but it can be tempting to begin writing the story…
Fictional research – yes, it does exist
All fiction, regardless of genre, requires some research. This may be choosing a spot in the middle of the Pacific to create your own island nation, discovering if it’s physically possible for a plane to fly five times the speed of sound, or finding a common Scottish name for your hero. There might be small…
Tools to help you write (pen excluded)
Listening to a great song can make you run up a hill faster. Silence can focus your concentration during an exam. And candlelight can bolster romantic feelings during a special dinner. Like all these pairings, there are certain things which support the act of writing. Here’s a list of situations and activities which I have…
WOW! I want to write a book!
When I tell people that I am writing a book, I get one of three standard responses; 1) I could never do that, 2) Do I have a great story idea for you? Or 3) Oh, wow! I’ve always wanted to do that. The people in the first category are probably the smart ones…
Knowing what is a short story and what is a novel
A trouble I sometimes have in sorting out my various story ideas is; what is a short story, and what can support the length of a novel? Unfortunately, there is no hard a fast rule. Most stories can go either way, but will lean more to one side or the other. If you are having…
Writer’s Block
At my work Christmas party last year, a friend asked me how I had gone in NaNoWriMo. I explained that the story was underdeveloped and so I had not been able to advance it as much as possible, and that there were some difficult parts in it (the two main characters were both song writers…
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