As anyone who has ever tried well knows, the first rule for writing a successful novel is that there are no rules. Or, if you like, there are dozens of rules and innumerable variations upon them. In recent days there has been further proof of this in newspaper interview revelations about their writing days with two highly…
One of the more misleading headlines of recent times was the one that suggested, for readers, there was no difference between the trashy romance porn of Fifty Shades of Grey and such established classics as Ulysses, War and Peace or Metamorphosis. This led into a report of a research study that found that all novels…
Despite the zillions of words that issue forth from those who believe they can teach us how to write, it is often the old-timers who said it best … and most succinctly. Take George Orwell, for example.
Once again we poor slaves of the written word are being categorised as an endangered species, especially those of us who devote our energies to long-form fiction and non-fiction. The Society of Authors is blaming the subsistence level of writers’ earnings on publishers who fail to pay adequate recompense for works that end up as…
My fellow writers have long intrigued me with the methods they use for creating the plot-lines of their novels. It is especially fascinating because my own means of devising a plot is probably best described as “let it happen” and I’ll follow along behind. My characters lead me; I don’t lead them or even tell them…
There are days when this already enjoyable job provides additional pleasure. Such as today with my ongoing mentoring of a writer’s work in progress and the arrival of another two chapters. It is such a joy to read. The writer combines lovely descriptive passages with taut and cliché-free dialogue to paint a seductive picture of…
I have long been a fan of Louise Welsh and her slightly offbeat tales – always intriguing, striding across genres and never less than enthralling and entertaining. It is, of course, all to do with the writing – economical, concise, never a wasted word and yet having maximum impact. But she really excels in the latest…
Could this be the light at the end of the tunnel? Is this the turn-off on a long and winding road? Maybe it is one of those blips that tend to rattle forecasters before the status quo returns … but the news from the ubiquitous UK bookshop chain, Waterstones, is that sales of Amazon’s Kindle device…
Could it be that among the many words that have become overused, abused and exaggerated beyond all meaning, “bestseller” is the most misused of all? Screaming at us from the shelves, tables and remainder bins of our bookshops are covers proclaiming that what lies within is a “No.1 Bestseller” or that it has been written…