Weekly posts on Novel Writing with updates on the progress of my debut crime novel, Safe Hands, about an ageing safe cracker forced out of retirement for the sake of his dying wife and a son that hates his guts. This week I’m talking about Research – how much to do and when to do it. Unlocking My Main Character…
Last week I talked about the work I’ve begun on redrafting the beginning of my novel, ‘Safe Hands’ – focusing specifically on my opening chapter and prologue. This week, the ‘plan’ was to complete the structural work on the novel – by discarding the current end section and working out how and where to add a new minor character I…
Richard Stark’s Parker novels offer the perfect anti-hero and inspired my own protagonist.
Stuck on your WIP? Things getting a little like wading through treacle? My advice? Skip to the end! That’s exactly what I’ve been doing after a long spell of procrastination and self-doubt. http://67.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltslooUuel1r5ceufo1_500.gif Last time I gave you any kind of update, I was still in the honeymoon period of writing my second novel. 25,000 words in. The beginning of…
Are you a ‘Pantser’ or a ‘Plotter’? It’s a question we writers seem to be obsessed with. It turns up on countless websites, forums and in many of our author interviews over at The Joined Up Writing Podcast. In case you somehow missed it, a ‘Pantser’ is someone who writes without any real plan – by the seat of their…
Following on from my previous post where I came out (of the novel-writing closet), I thought I would tell you a little more about the novel and share a tip I picked up from reading Save The Cat – a brilliant book about Screenwriting. It’s author, Blake Snyder, believes the one killer question you need to answer before you even…
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” – Winston Churchill, 1942. Let’s skip forward a few decades. Wednesday May 29th, 2015. The day I finally typed ‘The End’ on the manuscript of the first draft of my first novel. Picture the…
Let’s get straight in to it. Here were my aims for last week, along with the mixed bag of outcomes:- 1. Write minimum of 1500 words on novel – 300 words written. 2. Write minimum of 1500 words on crime story – 1100 words written. 3. Record, edit and release this week’s Joined Up Writing Podcast – Extended episode…
Podcasts are a great way to multi-task – getting advice on writing from shows like Writing Excuses, listening to the musings of comedians like Bill Burr or getting hooked on true crime stories like the brilliant Serial. I’ve been listening to podcasts for several years and as of last December, I’ve even begun to produce my own show, Joined…
The challenge that faced the Phoenix Writers this week was to write a 200 word piece that included the following elements – a barge approaching a set of locks, a bullock and a rifle. Here’s what I came up with . . . ————————— Lock 17 “Don’t worry, Kid,” said Don, squeezing the shoulder of his eldest. “I ain’t scared,”…