You’d have to be living as a hermit, St. Anthony style, to not know there’s a polarisation of viewpoints at present. Friendships, customers, and family relationships have been lost. Dinner conversations have become tense. Rather than lament this, I think it is an opportunity for writers for several reasons.
Read moreSeeking clarity
Rejection. Lacklustre progress. Few subscribers. Fewer readers. How do we navigate the disheartening nature of most writing careers? Especially when failure is the rule rather than the exception. How do we press on when each step of the journey sometimes feel futile?
Read moreRevise and resubmit
For those who have been in this writing game for a while, you will be familiar with the “revise and resubmit” (or R&R as I call them). The horrible irony that this will give neither rest nor relaxation, but hopefully will allow your reader to ultimately enjoy the book—like that lady in the picture, having some actual R&R.
Read moreThe central question
A few months ago my agent asked me to write a covering submission for my novel. Honestly, I thought that once I had an agent, the days of writing a covering anything were over! Turns out there is no way around writing a synopsis, a blurb, or any other part of the covering submission. At this point, it wouldn’t even surprise me if J.K. Rowling still has to.
Read moreExposition exposed
Does your reader need to know your protagonist’s backstory and other vital information? Yes. Should you dump the entire shebang in one go? You already know the answer to that. But how to achieve that sprinkling of salt so perfect a master chef couldn’t fault you? Read on.
Read moreIntegrated elements
A few months back I explored the “setup” and “payoff” elements that create a satisfying story. As you can read back in that article, it’s non-optional. Integrated elements however, work at a high level to make the story three dimensional. They’re not mandatory, but they make your story pop.
Read moreChatGPT and simile
I’ve been hearing a lot about ChatGPT, and when I complained to a (non-writer) friend I was struggling with a chapter, he said “just get ChatGPT to write it”. Ha! Normally I’m a bit of a luddite, but I figured if it’s what the kids are doing, I should give it a go. While ChatGPT is definitely hit and miss, you can use it as a tool similar to a thesaurus.
Read moreUnity of opposites
An element of literature and film I find a lot of fun is the power of two completely opposite characters being brought together by a common event or goal. Once there, they find themselves in a scenario where they want precisely the opposite things.
Read moreBuffet-style critique
The past couple of years the culinary buffet has been about as popular as a cough in an elevator. Not so the metaphorical buffet of writing circles, critique partners and other peer feedback. But sometimes all this amazing (and sometimes contradictory) feedback can leave a writer confused with a side of panic.
Read moreTropes and artistic license
As a writer of romantic suspense, and more recently inspirational romantic suspense, tropes come with the territory for me. There are some I like more than others. But the beauty of a trope is that the reader knows what they’re going to get.
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