PART ONE I had an email from someone some time ago, which I didn’t reply because I was so busy, but it deserves an answer. In fact, the problem is so universal for first time novelists that I decided to … Continue reading
Tag Archives: writing process
…in order to remind you what happened in the previous book(s). 45% Cleverly inserted reminders41% Synopsis at the beginning29% Glossary at the back22% Don’t need reminders – I reread the previous books 3% Don’t need reminders – I remember everything … Continue reading
– Just chucked out a whole chapter. 5,000 words.Why? Because it was boring. – … Continue reading
Today I was wandering around the garden with a piece of glass from a photo frame trying to catch sunlight and redirect it. Trouble is, in the tropics, the darn sun disappears behind clouds for days at a time. Sheesh. … Continue reading
Last night I spent some time going around the house with a large hand mirror, bouncing light reflections off the walls. Sort of practical physics. I did do a year of physics in high school. I was fourteen, couldn’t make … Continue reading
I have written elsewhere about a reader bringing baggage along with them every time they sit down with a book. But a writer also has baggage. I have a lot of it. I have lived in four different continents and … Continue reading
Over at SFSignal there is a Mind Meld in which I took part. If you are interested in this question thrown out to writers: “Once upon a time, sf/f was full of taboos: no swearing, no sex, etc. We’re thankfully … Continue reading
You’re let’s say, a shop assistant, or a taxi driver, or a farmer, or a bank teller, or a brain surgeon. You whinge about the poor pay, or the rude customers, or the long working day, or the dullness, or … Continue reading
When a wannabe-published writer reads the stats (only between 1-5 of every 5,000 completed MSS gets published by a respectable publisher), they start to despair. But then you realise that most of the submitted MSS deserve to get turned down, … Continue reading