Wide Angle Writing

I hated history at school. Except for the drawing. I liked some of that, especially the diagrams of motte-and-bailey castles. I was utterly bored by the endless lists of English monarchs, the sleep-inducing accounts of meaningless wars, tedious revolutions and labour marches within which no one thing related to anything else, much less to my … Continue reading Wide Angle Writing

The Storyteller Eternal

Nobody knows exactly when the first stories were told. I'm going to stick my neck out and pitch in at 250,000 BC, but only because it's a nice round number and I don't have a time machine. It feels like a fair guess. The "Out of Africa" theory of human evolution suggests our early homo sapiens ancestors may … Continue reading The Storyteller Eternal

The Writer’s A-Z

If you've got as many questions as I have about the craft of creative writing, you'll know how important it is to try out new things. The more you learn, the more it seems there is to learn. Every day, as they say, is a school day. That's what this A-Z is all about. It's … Continue reading The Writer’s A-Z

The Five Stages of Editorial Feedback

According to psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Most writers will recognise these as matching precisely the five stages of receiving editorial feedback on a manuscript. As in: Denial - "I refuse to believe that what I've written is anything other than an award-winning piece of … Continue reading The Five Stages of Editorial Feedback

The Research Funnel

I'm writing a novel set in Los Angeles in 1933. I've never been to Los Angeles. I've certainly never visited the year 1933. Clearly, research is required (rather more than I'd anticipated, actually, which just goes to show how blindly I plunged into the project). When you're writing a period piece, the details have to … Continue reading The Research Funnel

Every Character Needs a Spine

Earlier this year, film-maker Andrew Stanton gave an inspirational Ted Talk on storytelling. One quote in particular stuck with me, and it's this: "I took a seminar this year with an acting teacher named Judith Weston and I learned a key insight to character. She believed that all well-drawn characters have a spine. And the … Continue reading Every Character Needs a Spine

The Many Lives of a Writer – 5

Most people are like cats – they live not just one life, but many. Writers are no exception. Here's the introspective sprawl of my fifth writing life. Life 5 - Diversity So this is me, now, live and uncut, smack in the middle of my fifth writing life. In my past lives, I've written stories both short … Continue reading The Many Lives of a Writer – 5

The Many Lives of a Writer – 4

Most people are like cats – they live not just one life, but many. Writers are no exception. Here's what happened when my fourth writing life got underway. Life 4 - Phantom Fiction Sometime in the middle of 2007, my agent Dot Lumley asked me if I fancied writing a crime novel for a book packager. I … Continue reading The Many Lives of a Writer – 4

The Many Lives of a Writer – 3

Most people are like cats – they live not just one life, but many. Writers are no exception. Here's how my third writing life saw everything change. Life 3 - Size Isn't Everything After cutting the cord with Voyager Books, I wrote a dark fantasy novel called Panopticon. The title, inspired by an architectural concept for a … Continue reading The Many Lives of a Writer – 3

The Many Lives of a Writer – 2

Most people are like cats – they live not just one life, but many. Writers are no exception. Here are a few dramatic moments from my second writing life. Life 2 - A Long Way Down One of the ideas I pitched to Voyager Books during my dragon years was a dark fantasy novel about the power … Continue reading The Many Lives of a Writer – 2