Inspired. Energised. A wee bit daunted. That's how I feel right now. It's been one of those weekends. A fabulous weekend -- don't mistake me. But my mind is now spinning like a wind wheel. Bright and shiny? Yes. But spinning oh so very fast. The weekend started with a most satisfactory cafe writing session, … Continue reading Sunday journal ~ Infinite possibilities (Oh, my!)
Well, that was an experience. My first NaNoWriMo. I didn't quite make it to the end, but I did give it a red hot go for 25 days out of 30 and achieved 41, 750 words. This (aside from the fact I didn't achieve the ultimate goal of 50K) is a wonderful thing. It's certainly more … Continue reading And that’s a NaNoWriMo wrap
This is just going to be a quick update of where I'm at with stuff (aka NaNoWriMo sanity check). The most excellent news is that I'm still on schedule to complete the 50K in 30 days and sailed past 35K this evening. There was a mini meltdown on Monday evening, when the pressure of producing … Continue reading NaNoWriMo sanity check
I had a major epiphany while working on my WIP today. I suddenly saw a solution to several problems all at once, and it was utterly thrilling. Very sadly, I was alone in the cafe at that point , my writing companion having disappeared temporarily for an appointment. I must've looked agitated, because the serving … Continue reading The epiphany: a new perspective
For those not familiar with folk music, it might be easy to assume that today's folk scene is entirely comprised of ancient dances and story ballads. Men and women in weird costumes jigging to the jolly sounds of fiddles and tin whistles... or the minstrel in the corner strumming a guitar and singing about the … Continue reading Martha Tilston’s take on Wall Street
And now for part 3 of my Thriller Day summary, in which the craft and conventions of writing thrillers are contemplated. Story design I mentioned in an earlier post that McKee is famous for his four-day ‘Story’ seminar and accompanying book, both of which sound extremely worthwhile. Most people in the audience were familiar with … Continue reading Robert McKee Thriller Day – part 3
I learnt some things about my writing process over the past 30 days of the WriMoFoFo challenge. The first is that I can actually push myself to let the story come out and 'write badly' if I put my mind to it. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter if the dialogue was bad, … Continue reading WriMoFoFo wrap-up
Being in the early stages of a new novel, I've been thinking a lot about openings and first chapters. They are both essential to get right for different reasons: the opening (first couple of paragraphs) needs to immediately engage the reader, while the first chapter kicks off the story and generally provides the hook. Most writers spend a phenomenal amount … Continue reading Where to start? The first chapter
Well, fate snickered at me a week ago when, despite my earlier upbeat words about targets and optimising the wordmachine, production came to a grinding halt. Sparks flew and wheels screeched as the brakes were slammed on in response to my sudden realisation that the MS I was working on was not the MS I should be working … Continue reading Changing direction
One of the undisputed rules of storytelling is to hurt your characters: the protagonist must either fail to achieve a goal and in so doing make things worse, or achieve that goal at a cost that outweighs the benefit. If the writer is doing it right, in most cases things spiral out of control because … Continue reading Bad decision vs stupid decision
E V Gregory 