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A to Z Blogging Challenge: M is for Movement
M is for Movement Today's post is about movement, namely how a character might move through a scene (from one location to another), and how a scene might move to a new location within a chapter. It will also cover the montage technique, which is commonly...
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A to Z Blogging Challenge: L is for Life experience (aka how to tackle backstory)
L is for Life experience (aka, how to tackle backstory) Every character - from those in the starring role(s) to the lowly alien with a brief appearance on page fifty-six of book three - has dreams and aspirations. As in real life, our life experience...
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A to Z Blogging Challenge: K is for Knots, crinkles and plot holes
K is for Knots, crinkles and plot holes I had to get a little creative choosing my subject for today, K is such a difficult letter to find a topic to write about, so I thought it would be a good idea to look at some of what I do as a developmental editor...
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A to Z Blogging Challenge: J is for Journals and notebooks
J is for Journals and notebooks Sometimes it is hard to find inspiration to write a story or know how to tackle a particular scene, which is where journals and notebooks come into play. Every writer should have (at least) one. It doesn't need to be a paper...
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A to Z Blogging Challenge: I is for Imagery
I is for Imagery I don't know about you, but when I'm reading a book, I love to 'see' the world I'm being immersed into. My genres of choice are - surprise, surprise - science fiction or fantasy. Both of these genres require a substantial amount of...
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A to Z Blogging Challenge: H is for Head-hopping
H is for Head-hopping Head-hopping is the 'art' of jumping out of one character's head (perspective) and into another, usually under the guise of allowing the reader the 'full-on' experience. I've heard many a writer say they want their reader to know...
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A-Z Blogging Challenge: G is for GDPR
G is for GDPR While this is a break from the subject of creative writing, the General Data Protection Regulation is coming into effect next month and will affect how I conduct my business. It's been spoken about for the last couple of years - I found out about it last...
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A to Z Blogging Challenge: F is for Foreshadowing
F is for Foreshadowing This is a plot device that sees an author planting clues in earlier scenes of a story for a payoff at a later stage. If it is done well, the reader won't see it coming, but upon reaching the payoff, will realise that the clues were...
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A to Z Blogging challenge: E is for Exposition
E is for Exposition Exposition is the insertion of background information that is crucial to the reader's understanding of a story, be it a backstory (prior events), setting, or description. As with description, my recommendation would be to filter...
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A to Z Blogging challenge: D is for Describing through action and inner voice.
D is for Describing through Action and (Inner) Voice I've read many a book that will grind to a sudden halt as the author stops to describe a character, setting or item. When this happens, I always imagine the characters standing to the side, waiting, or...
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A to Z Blogging challenge: C is for Crafting your Story
C is for Crafting your Story (dramatic arc) I briefly touched on the basics of storytelling yesterday and today’s post with expand on that and provide some links I hope you’ll find useful. Each story you write will follow a structure similar to the image...
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A to Z Blogging challenge: B is for Blank Page
B is for Blank Page This is where all published novels begin life, and this post is about the different approaches an author might take to writing. If you are preparing to write your first novel, I would hope (and advise) that you start your novel writing...
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A to Z Blogging challenge: A is for An introduction
An introduction Creative writing is my passion. My earliest memory of writing a book was when I was about nine. I was really into Enid Blyton’s boarding school stories and inspired by this, I recall writing a whole (exercise) book on a similar subject. I no longer...
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Round two of price rises versus imposter syndrome: making a decision about pricing
It has taken several days of research, namely checking what prices other editors charge, but I have finally decided on my new pricing structure. While it doesn't quite stretch to the recommended minimum rates suggested by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders or...
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Round one of price rises versus Imposter Syndrome: Recognising the symptoms
There's nothing quite like receiving a letter from the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) to encourage you (well, me) to address the issue of pricing. I have been mentioning raising my prices to just about every client for the past two years (and have received some...
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Year end summary and scheduling for 2018
I am in the process of planning my diary and availability for next year, so this is a call for provisional bookings, to try and pre-empt which months you will need and avoid you waiting in a three-four month queue for me to start. From next year, I will only be...
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