Since I started this blog I have often visited the subject of story structure. It's one of those subjects that excites me. Some writers will throw their hands in the air in horror at the idea of structure. Story is emotion and there is no unique formula that will emote a feeling in reader. It …
Tag: writing
Genre — reader expectations
A recent piece of advice I heard from a successful author was for new writers to focus their attention on their chosen genre. But what does that mean? I think it means to be successful you have to give your potential readers what they want. The problem however is discovering your potential reader base and …
Story Themes
I normally blog monthly, but I missed-out in December for personal reasons. For many, 2020 was an annus horribilis (horrible year) -- it was the year of the pandemic. But for me it was exceptionally sad. I lost two dear family members near the end of the year, one expected and one very unexpected. It …
The Writer’s Toolbox (ii)
In last month's blog, I looked at Scrivener, the primary tool I use for writing and publishing. This month I want to look at another tool, which is relatively new-- Plottr. Plottr, is essentially a time line planning tool. It allows you to quickly map out a story's timeline with scene cards. It also allows …
Daydeam Believer
Not many people are old enough to remember Daydream Believer. It was a single released by the Monkees in 1968 with lead singer Davy Jones and headed the US charts for four weeks. It's a catchy tune, with cryptic lyrics about a daydream believer and his homecoming queen. But I can still remember the chorus. …
Heroes and Villains
After the Christmas break, it's been difficult for me to get back into a writing routine again. Not that I ever switch off completely from the writing process -- I'm always thinking about my current novel and where the story is heading. And that's just as important as time spent at the keyboard. But one the …
Editing – early lessons learnt from professional editors
In this blog I want to discuss editing, why it is so important, and when to do it. I also want to draw upon some of my early experiences with professional editors and communication in the business world. A simple definition of editing from Google is as follows: Editing is a stage of the writing …
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The writing process
It is almost eight years since I started writing novels, and I've learned an awful lot in that time. It hasn't been easy. I had a story I wanted to write and I wanted to start writing it as soon as possible. But I soon found out that you need to make some key decisions before …
Plot patterns
Recently I was looking through my blue-ray collection to find a movie to watch with my family. King Arthur: Legend of the sword (2017) caught my eye. The movie directed by Guy Richie, grossed $148m on a budget of $175m, which was pretty much a financial disaster for the producers, and the critics complained it ignored …
Story Drivers
Last month I published my third novel, AndroDigm Park 2067. Much of my time since has been taken up with marketing with little time left for writing. But now it's time to start thinking again about the next novel. I have two very different ideas I am currently exploring and it's difficult to choose which. …
JMJ Williamson 