Dialogue – speech between two or more people – is important for bringing fiction to life. It gives voice to characters, breaks up the text, balances description and helps to move the action on. How someone speaks tells the reader … Read More
Character building is essential to fiction writing and for the last few sessions at Maggie’s we’ve been creating, and developing characters. Central to any story is its cast which drives the narrative and injects life into the plot. Each story … Read More
Every time someone tells me they like Blue Tide Rising, I do a little dance of joy. If it’s people I already know, I always add a caveat – they might just be being nice. But when it’s a stranger … Read More
Someone messaged me last week to say they were having an ‘Amy Blue week’ – Amy is the main character in Blue Tide Rising – adding ‘you write depression with cutting beauty and deep understanding.’ This was good to hear, … Read More
A young woman I know once read six books in a day. She read all day, every day, and combined reading with all sorts of other activities, like eating, watching telly and engaging on multiple social media channels. When I … Read More
When you pick a novel off the shelf, do you know what genre it is? Do you care? If asked to list the last five books you read by genre, could you? If you sit down to write, do you … Read More
“Treat it like a party!” Four weeks today I launch my first novel, Blue Tide Rising. I’m using a tried and tested formula, stumbled upon by accident in 2014 when a group of fellow writers and I decided to publish … Read More
The bad news is I’m confined to barracks with tarsal fractures after a two-ton Audi ran over my foot as I was walking home from work on Thursday. The car swung in from left-field as I was crossing a side … Read More
For our last group session before Christmas we had a bit of fun with our writing. Here are a few games you might want to try. Names in a hat: This is a bit like the party game ‘Who Am … Read More
Fellow IQ writer Anne Goodwin has brought out a collection of short stories called Becoming Someone– all themed around the topic of identity. I went to her book launch last week which gave me me the idea for this week’s writing … Read More