by John | Jul 14, 2025 | So you want to be a writer?, On Writing
Your book launch looms. There’s a faint prickle of sweat in the palms. It’s time to think about publicity. Definitions: Publicity: there’s no budget. The book gets sent to all the press, media, influencers etc that you and your publisher can think of...
by John | Jul 7, 2025 | How Is It Going?, General, On Writing
The End. I’ve written those words again. I’ve unwound the thread of my story all the way to its finish. The next thing is to look it over to see what more needs doing, and what needs doing differently. It’s a mental adjustment. I’ve been living with this thing for...
by John | May 12, 2025 | So you want to be a writer?, General, On Writing
So you want to be a writer, eh? And why not? It’s a great life. Let’s hear what some of those writers have had to say about it. For those of us who are feeling undervalued, the problem was diagnosed as long ago as the 18th century: “That...
by John | Jun 23, 2025 | So you want to be a writer?, On Writing
So your partner has become an author. Congratulations. This may not have been your choice but congratulations anyway. With a little attention an author can be a rewarding companion as well as a curiosity and a conversation piece. But there are just a few things...
by John | Apr 14, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
My heroine is feeling her way through woods at night. So am I. She knows where she is. She knows where she needs to get to. The way is dark. She is groping with her fingers and toeing forward with bare feet. The path is muddy, stony, brambly. It leads downhill. Her...
by John | Apr 7, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
Marite, a student in Mexico, once asked me if I went through an endless chain of emotions while writing. I don’t know. Do I? Surely I do! I am an artist! I should be endlessly consumed by the emotions! I should be a seething, nay, gibbering mass of creativity, my...
by John | Mar 31, 2025 | How Is It Going?, General, On Writing
All right, I admit it. I did. I stole from someone else’s novel. I had been reading a retelling of the Arthur story. I wasn’t thinking a great deal about it, except the usual “I wouldn’t have done it like that” thoughts that authors often think when reading someone...
by John | Mar 17, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
In an earlier post I saw two approaches to planning our story: either we do or we don’t. Let’s develop that further. The two ways were: A. We get an exciting idea, jump on its back, shout ‘Yee-hah!’ and gallop off blindly in whatever direction it takes...
by John | Mar 10, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing, WE
My near-future Science Fiction novel WE had reached the copy-editing stage. It was time for a last check on all the technical detail that I had written into its pages. . I’d done my best with this. I’d ploughed the pages of Wikipedia, talked with teachers, doctors...
by John | Mar 3, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
You are writing a historical novel. How much research do you do? I would say that you must show enough for the reader to believe, but no so much that it burdens your pages. When do you do it? Before, during or after you write your first draft? Different writers will...
by John | Feb 24, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
‘Books are like autumn leaves’ my father said. ‘They lie on the ground, and maybe they are beautiful. But they are soon hidden beneath the layers that come after them.’ There’s a melancholy thought! Books should last, shouldn’t they? Especially the ones we...
by John | Feb 24, 2018 | Story Tale, On Writing
This sequence of posts is about storytelling. We’re going to explore stories together. We’ll talk a bit about why and how we tell them, including a few little tricks you might find helpful when weaving your own. But first we should think about why...
