Looking back at 2020 What a year we’ve all just had. New Year’s is traditionally a time for looking back and reflecting on the past year and that’s going to be a hard thing to do this year. There was a lot of pain, stress, loss and strife around the | Read more…
This summer was quite a busy time for me and I never got around to doing a Summer News post for my blog. I think that was largely because all the news I had was in progress and happening, rather than being either upcoming or recent events. Also, you know, | 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…
I’m in the process of working through my line editor’s comments on Mime and I thought I’d share a little glimpse into the evolution of one of my scenes. We join Elliot, armed with a fire extinguisher, in the middle of a very improvised rescue… 1st Draft White fog erupted | 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…
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…
Alice tried to remember who had given her the key. The memory seemed to dance out of reach. Strangely she could remember the rest of the day, but not that one moment. Someone had given it to her for a reason; that much seemed clear. The heavy iron key sat | Read more…
A little bit of potted “wisdom” based on my own experience of receiving edits and critiques When confronted with edits, you invariably won’t like what the editor has suggested. They may have changed the meaning, or the tone of a sentence in a way you don’t like. But, don’t get | Read more…
What is your author voice? How do you develop it and bring it to the fore? It’s a tricky question and one many authors struggle with. I myself struggle to reconcile what I know to be good writing practice with injecting distinction and personality into my writing. I went to a | Read more…