Tag: fiction writing
On Life Writing
I’ve been thinking about life writing – what it is and what it means – since I got invited to do a workshop with offenders in Durham prison. English PEN are an incredible international organisation that campaign to defend writers and readers around the world whose right to freedom of expression is at risk. They […]
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’ […]
Journalism and Fiction Writing
Journalism and fiction writing are often seen as two very different beasts, but my years spent as a journalist have, without a doubt, informed my fiction writing, mostly for the better. As a journalist you quickly learn how to grab your reader from the very first sentence, after which you slowly unspool your tale, dropping […]
Documentary writing: Different from fiction?
Margot McCuaig writes fiction and makes documentaries. We asked her if she could provide us an insight into the differences between the two. Writing fiction and writing, producing and directing factual documentary films are different disciplines. To some extent at least the creative processes are poles apart. Fiction is freestyle; it is frequently an embodiment […]
Why I don’t do Word Counts
Cath Staincliffe is an established novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV’s hit series Blue Murder. She doesn’t do word counts, which came to us as a surprise. Hence we asked her, why? I don’t do word counts. Well, only once I’ve completed a novel, and then with one eye closed, holding my breath, worried it won’t […]
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