Category: How To and Tips
Why You Should Keep A Journal
Once upon a time I had tiny children. And during that same time period I longed to write. Dishing up Cheerios and worrying about Word Counts aren’t a happy mix and I knew where my priorities lay; happy children would be a better contribution to the world than my words could ever be. So, I […]
The Huge, Unwieldy Beast versus Flash Fiction
When I was half-way through my novel Our Endless Numbered Days, without any knowledge that it would be published, I read Jean Hegland’s novel, Into the Forest. I loved it, and for the first time ever I wrote to an author to tell her how I felt about her book, and that I was waist […]
Many Voices
I’ve just written and filed 10,000 words, but before I write the next 1,500, I need to shift space in my head. The last 10,000 were written for academic purposes; the next 1,500 are to be written for one of those ‘listy’ articles you often find in women’s magazines. In the course of my career […]
Sculpting a Memoir
Memoir writers have huge egos. We actually believe that something we did is important to others. We are the like aging relatives reminiscing at Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone else at the table is anxious to talk about Billy’s wedding or Sally’s divorce, but old Aunt Mabel won’t shut up about life before the war. Her voice […]
Five Things Writing Taught Me About Life
Playing it safe isn’t always safe. Mattie, the narrator of The Art of Crash Landing is a very flawed, not always likeable character. I’ve had people ask me why I took that risk, and while I understand what they mean, I’m not convinced that using a polite, affable main character would necessarily have been safer. […]
10 Ways To Kick Start Your Writing
Joanne Harris, @Joannechocolat, is one of our favorite authors on twitter. If you do not follow her yet, you should! 1. If you’re at a creative loose end, read. If you’re not at a loose end, read. Basically, read. #TenWaysToKickstartYourWriting — Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) November 28, 2015 2. Leave your reading comfort zone. Read […]
#AmNotWriting
The 4 things that stop Tammy Cohen writing (and how she deals with them) When asked what I do, I tell people I’m a writer. That’s a lie. What I really am is a not-writer. The truth is I spend far more of my time not writing than I do writing. I have no excuse. […]
Plot-driven or Character-driven?
I love reading books about writing. It is my number one displacement activity when I should be working on my novel. However, it bugs me how some how-to books split plot and character. Some books even divide genres into plot-driven and character-driven and say that the plot-driven novels are more likely to be ‘commercial fiction’ […]
What is it that makes an idea great?
Where do ideas for novels come from? What is it that makes an idea great? Whatever an author decides to write must be rich enough and thrilling enough to compel their reader through 300-plus pages, to trap them wholeheartedly inside a story, leaving them unable and unwilling to climb out. It must be rich enough […]
Writing Advice
Having just turned in my eighth novel in five years, one would hope that I had some writing advice to share with new writers. Giving advice on a process that is a little like witchcraft and a little like playing roulette is tricky, but I think I have learned some tricks and strategies along the […]
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