It’s a hard lesson to learn, but less is more. On my fourth draft of current project and I’m paring right back to find the story is getting stronger and stronger. I’m learning that my default reaction is to say, ‘oh that’ll be good’...
I don’t usually blog about one particular book, but for this, I will make an exception. Not a beginners book – you need to know what PoV and characterisation etc are for instance – but for someone who wants to improve, particularly in plotting and...
The decision to keep a book journal was one of my better moves this year. Having only started in March, my year to date total is 60, which implies my total read was probably in the region of 80-90. Not too shabby. Could do better, if there wasn’t quite so much...
In these days of social media, it almost feels as if plagiarism doesn’t matter. How often do you see a picture or a quote retweeted, without credit given to whoever spent time and mental energy creating it in the first place? As someone who has made a living...
Back in March, on this blog, I bemoaned the fact that I had ‘too many books to read, and too little time.’ I was convinced that the growing pile of books awaiting my reading attention was the result of my reading too slowly, or not often enough, not the...
I had my glorious moment of fame, performing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Fifteen minutes, one hot Monday afternoon, reading out my short story Be Careful What You Wish For. When I decided to apply for Story Shop, I hadn’t really thought about...
