One of the first books I ever read on the art of writing emphasised the need for a good opening line, opening paragraph and at least ten opening pages to catch the reader's attention. It's advice I find difficult to disagree with. Writers need to arouse their readers' curiosity. Here are some of the best …
Tag: Writing novels
A Decade of Writing
March 2021 will mark an important anniversary for me. It will be a decade since I retired from 'normal' work. I was an accountant in the City of London working for one of the largest firms of accountants in the world. It was a job I enjoyed, but working in an accountancy practice is a …
The writer’s toolbox
In this blog I want to look at Scrivener -- a software tool that changed my life as a writer, and which today I couldn't do without. What does a novelist or writer need in order to write? Comparatively little. Remember Shakespeare only needed a quill, ink and paper. And he did quite well with …
Editing — my tools and techniques
In the first of my previous blogs on editing, I looked at the lessons that I had learnt a long time ago from the world of business book publishing. In the second blog I looked at what I had to learn more recently to adapt to publishing fiction. In this blog I want to look …
JMJ Williamson 