I’ve talked about my writing process (and how to make the muse work for you slash keep track of rabid characters and twisty plots), so now it’s time to talk about editing (and how to keep your sanity). For the curious, there are three reasons why I’m blogging about this: one, it forces me to […]
Writer Tip
The State of Writing
Some interesting articles about writing in these modern times. (And no, it has nothing to do with NaNoWriMo — though my best wishes to anyone surfacing for air from that 🙂 Instead, this article deals with several aspects of writing — from the story-telling to the actual chicken-scratching-on-dead-trees. First, an inspiring and encouraging piece from […]
Fighting Rhythms and other rants
I’ve recently finished The New Magic by Joseph Malik (review to come soon — but his first book, Dragon’s Trail, was half of what prompted me to start writing advice on writing action scenes, as an example of how to do them right). Anyway. You often hear the advice about writing fight scenes to “use […]
All in a Name: Romans, Russians, and Fantasy
A character’s name will be the trait most often referred to in a book, so today I’d like to talk about historical and fantastical names, as well as literary usage. We’d start with a quick review of some interesting naming conventions from history (Romans, duh, but also others), then touch on fantasy and science fiction […]
Writing Process (or, how to make sure the muse works for you)
On several occasions recently (lecturing writing groups and chatting online) I was asked about my writing process, about anything from using pen and paper vs typing to ideation. And it hit me that a lot of it is inter-connected. I’ve talked about the tools I use and where I sit on the plotting-vs-pantsing scale, but […]
The Art and Craft of Writing (or, the worst and best advice you’ll ever get as an author)
I’ve recently been invited to talk to a few writing groups, about the experience of transitioning from a reader, to a budding writer, to a published author. This column comes as a result of thinking about that journey, from the advice I gave and the questions I answered, plus a few interesting discoveries on the […]
Milestones (or, the art of blogging as a key to a successful author platform)
In a twist that should surprise no one, last week’s post was the 200th post on my blog — and that milestone went past to the sound of crickets. I thought I’d take a moment to speak about milestones (besides putting in a big, actual, stone at the side of the road — for that […]
More from FutureLearn: Classics and Literary
I’ve mentioned FutureLearn before, as an excellent resource for no-stress, free-time further education. I’ve had the chance to do some more courses over the past few months, and thought I’d share my experience. Classics The first course I’ve done at FutureLearn was about a complete virtual model of ancient Rome (see here). It was an […]
Conversations in My Head: Things I’ve Learnt from Reading
Whenever I’m reading a book, I have this silent conversation with the author in my head. This is particularly true for indie authors I’m reviewing, but most authors are ‘targeted’. Sometimes, there are more people in my head. So if you’re feeling like someone is walking on your grave, it might be me, reading your […]
How to Murder. (Your darlings.) (In prose.)
We’ve all heard the advice to writers to “murder your darlings”. While I’ve been killing characters in entertainingly gruesome ways, the advice relates to prose. I’ve recently went through an extensive exercise of tightening my prose (for a particular submission), and thought I’d share my experience and lessons I’ve learned — both good and bad, […]
