Character Quirks, Hold the Cheese
I love character quirks. In one of my early stories one of the characters was a one legged prostitute named Reverend Moon (it’s still in the short story section of the site if you want to read it). I’ve levered in other strange tics, everything from an obsession with numbers to a predilection for Greek [...]
Story Planning for People Who Hate Outlines
Some of us hate outlining. I learned to do it after literally wasting an entire novel because I didn’t know where I was going with it, but until I finished my latest outline I was still vaguely uncomfortable with the process of laying out my story before I actually started writing. There is an interim [...]
Should You Hire A Writing Coach?
I’ve been asking myself in the last few days if I should hire a writing coach. Not because I can’t write, but because I think I can probably write even better. The other reason I’m thinking about it is that I think I’ve got a really good story cooking and I don’t want to waste [...]
Writing Endings With Oomph
This was going to be my first podcast for the site, now that I finally have the audio thing working, however I appear to have acquired Murphy’s Cold*. I want to talk about writing your ending. This has been a problem for me for a long time. I can think of cool ways to dispatch [...]
Artistic Integrity vs. Being a Huge Jerk
I know writers who simply refuse to take criticism. Any correction beyond basic grammar correction results in dummies being spat, toys thrown out of the cot and a general wailing and gnashing of teeth. Normally I’d just write that kind of thing off as histrionics and figure these writers would grow out of it when [...]
The Upside of Time Off and The Downside of Being Dead
I took a few days off writing. I know this is one of the cardinal sins of NanoWrioMo, but it couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t personal tragedy, or even terrible work schedule that got me into trouble, it was lack of structure. As just about anyone who knows me can tell you, I’ve gotten pretty [...]
NanoWriMo Inspiration and an Update
I’m afraid last month, I was made of failure. I got just over 28,000 words. If I hadn’t been aiming for 50,000 then I would have called that a good month, but I fell off the writing wagon. I spent exactly one minute on self pity, then I let that go, because despite the fact [...]
New Media Ninja; or, why JC Hutchins is the man
JC Hutchins’ book 7th Son: Descent is out. This makes me happy. Not just because it’s good (it’s superb), not just because he’s got a damn snazzy website (although it is pretty damn snazzy), but because any new author trying to make it in the business should take a look at JC Hutchins’ way of [...]
A Really Short Update and A Quick Tip
I’m running it close to the wire here. Four days to go and I’ve still got 10,000 words to hit my target of 50,000 in one month. Even to reach this I’ve had to count everything I;ve written this month, including the words I’ve deleted. It still counts. Quick Tip: Stuck for story idas? Look [...]
NanoWriMo and Your Future Self
I’d like you to fast forward yourselves to the end of November. You, sweaty and stained as if you’ve just emerged from a coal mine, are stared at a pile of printed paper. You choke back some tears and wonder about having another coffee. You silently curse and praise NanoWrimo at the same time. You’re [...]
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