While the pacing of the story is one concern, there is also the pacing of the writing. It isn’t the same sort of issue. In the story, we need to keep the reader’s attention, so the ebb and flow of action and the changes of perspective all add to the mix. In the writing, it’s […]
It seems strange that the characters in story sometimes take over and shape where the story is going and what is likely to be happening. In the current story the male main character, de Quincey was always going to be the strongest. The one with the most action and in theatrical terms, the most lines. […]
I suppose, there is a sweet-spot somewhere between complex and simple that allows the story to unfurl easily while still keeping the reader’s attention captivated. I’ve read enough books recently to know that too simple is boring, books full of pointless description because the author can’t think of what he or she wants the character […]
In the current climate of terror, we ventured out into the open this morning, Mrs D and myself, armed only with a small warning bell and a long pole to keep the ‘others’ away. We ventured onto the beach at St. Annes. Fortunately the tide was out so we had all of seven or maybe […]
The question for this month is: ”It’s been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other […]
Just finishing ’Save the Cat Writes a Novel ‘ The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need. I don’t normally do reviews, but this book is certainly worthy of some attention. A couple of years ago I signed up for and started attending a writing course at a local college. What I had hoped […]
Okay, so I’m going to make an attempt at the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). this involves an attempt to write a new novel, or at least the start of a new novel, involving fifty thousand words, in the month of November. To make any sort of realistic attempt on this target I need to […]
Had a re-think, maybe I need to do more research on the crime writing front. I’ve made a start on the story, but I keep getting bogged down in what I suspect are unnecessary details and I’m not yet clear what to do about that. In the meantime, I’ll return to the second in the Leprechaun series […]
In total I received a dozen critiques from Critters Workshop. The general consensus seemed to be good. People like the story and the way it’s being told, although the fact I labelled it incorrectly as a short story rather than a novel confused some of the reviewers. I won’t make that mistake again. I’ve made […]
Just had a rejection email from Strange Horizons for my story, ‘A Winters Tale.’ I have to say I’m not surprised, my story when I had a deeper look at their output was not a good fit for them. It’s a fairly straight forward beginning, middle and a rather brutal end sort of thing, whereas […]