Most authors follow the advice to only write in one genre. To brand themselves and their books with a narrow focus. But, confining authors to a single genre, even if that genre is broad, seems quite tragic to me. How many readers would claim they only read and enjoy one genre? Why would we expect writers to be any different? Maybe there are some compromises to be found if you want to give your creativity free reign. | Read more…
In this post I’d like to share some experience of my beta read process – some examples of the feedback I received and what I did to address it. | Read more…
Editing is difficult because it involves change. While self-editing can be relatively painless, integrating external feedback into your edits can be excruciating. There’s lots of advice out there saying you should get feedback, but less about what to do when you get it. I’m certainly no expert, but here’s my take on | Read more…
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent a lot of time stressing over your writing process and worrying that you are doing it all wrong. A lot of famous authors spout advice about writing, but no writer–bestseller, famous or otherwise–has the one true solution that works for everyone, because no | Read more…
It’s been said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. If you spent an average of two hours a day for six days a week, it would take you 16 years. I don’t know how accurate that claim is, but I do know many people balk at the | Read more…
One of the most crucial parts of editing is identifying your own habits so you can address them. Repetition, crutch words, over use of adverbs, passive voice etc. This is something I usually address in a final pass — a final polish — after having addressed everything to do with character, | Read more…
I’ve been having a think about what makes a good piece of flash fiction, and while I don’t think I can say it any better than David Gaffney does in this article – Stories in your pocket: how to write flash fiction (which came out just before the very first National | Read more…