Movies and novels are two very different mediums of story telling. Some great novels don’t necessarily translate into great movies. And some great movies would not necessarily make a great novels. But despite the obvious differences in the medium, there is a lot a novelist can learn about storytelling from the analysing the story elements …
Planning a Novel
Writing a novel is no easy process, even if you have done it before. Recently, I completed the first draft of my second novel. It still needs a substantial edit, but that is best done in a month's time when I am sufficiently distanced from it to edit it objectively. In the meantime, I have started …
When science fiction meets science fact
Recently, when I was researching material for my latest science fiction book, I came across some extraordinary facts about the number of exoplanets that were discovered during 2014. For those of you not familiar with the term, an exoplanet is a planet outside of our solar system. The first of these exoplanets was discovered back …
When the pen is mightier than the keyboard
With some very famous exceptions (most of which are writers in their eighties and nineties), most writers today write with a keyboard and not a pen. We have so much in the way of technology to help us that there is little need to pick up a pen, except perhaps to annotate corrections on a …
First Draft
Typing those magic words, ‘The End’, can be a satisfying moment for any first time writer. If you have got that far in your writing, then congratulations. You’ve made it further than most aspiring writers do. You haven’t given up. But then when you read the draft, reality kicks in. Let’s put it kindly: it …
The Darkest Moment
Stories are all about conflict and transformation. If the main character in your story can achieve all of his/her desires without any struggle at all, then it wouldn’t be much of a story. It is therefore the job of the writer to make things difficult for the hero/heroine. One writer likened this to getting your …
Dialogue – the seven rules
I've been writing for most of my life. It was hard not to. It was part of my job as an accountant to write reports, letters and other forms of communication. So learning to write fiction shouldn't have been that difficult, should it? But of course it was. Business writing is about communicating facts and …
That Eureka Moment
This morning I had one. Yes — a eureka moment. When was your last eureka moment? I mean, an idea that pops into your head about your story line: a twist or turn that just seems right for your story. Don’t lose it; write it down. Keep a notebook with you at all times, and …
Daydreaming again? It’s work.
You're staring out the window, letting your imagination go, when a family member interrupts and asks you to do something. "I'm working," you protest, and then immediately realise it was the wrong answer. So you put your thoughts aside and do as they request. Sound familiar? It happens to us all. And I would never …
Choosing Genre
Genre is not something I had really thought about until it came to the time for publishing my first novel on Amazon. Then I had to categorise the genre and sub-genre of my novel for Amazon’s classification purposes. Of course, genre is important. It’s one of the first things that influence readers' choice of books. …
JMJ Williamson 