Back to the Edit
Today I have settled down to work on the edits of my next book, Fields of Glory, which will be published next summer. Luckily there’s not too much to do, other than remove some unnecessary scenes and tighten some others. I say luckily, because as you can see, this isn’t the shortest book I’ve written! … Continue reading
Where Do The Characters Come From?
Continuing the theme of professional tricks of the trade, I thought I’d comment on characters I’ve used – and those I have read. Some authors are really not happy unless they’ve planned out every person in their book in a forty page synopsis. Many professionals do work in this way, I know. Recently I read … Continue reading
Editors and Editing
Yesterday I had to give a talk to the Society of Editors and Proofreaders – and I had great fun! It is a constant source of astonishment to me, how many people say that they hate editors and all their kind. One friend of mine routinely tells how his was trained by the Gestapo, while … Continue reading
A Short Interlude …
Today I managed to really upset another writer. Entirely accidentally. In fact, going through the twitter messages, I still don’t quite see where I managed to hit her somewhere painful, but there you go. I guess that all writers can tend to have soft parts that bruise too easily – but if that’s going to … Continue reading
Where Do Stories Start?
A couple of weeks ago, I was given a firm instruction to write a bit more about the process of writing. So, just for those who asked, here are some more musings on the world of scribbling. Planning a story is a pain. Really, it is. I always characterise my work as being 9/10ths day … Continue reading
Giving Talks
Ok, this is a slight digression. Today I’ve been writing a speech. Only a little one, but it’s one that has to be good, so I’ve been playing around with words, rereading old speeches and trying out new anecdotes. I enjoy giving talks. Which author wouldn’t? We get an audience, we get a fee, we … Continue reading
Planning Not To Plan!
I was talking this morning to my old friend Phillip Gooden, and he mentioned that he was writing a variation to his latest story. ‘You know how it is,’ he said, ‘so often you don’t know how the story will pan out until you actually start it.’ It’s very true. So often aspiring writers will … Continue reading
Trolls and Other Cowards
This has come about because of the really horrible cases of trolls upsetting people last week. Thanks for the inspiration, you sad perverts. For those who didn’t hear about it: over here in the UK some women were attacked on Twitter. There are some pathetic individuals who like to worry or scare people for no … Continue reading
Writing – Six Faults
I was looking at a blog today, and it sparked an idea. The idea was, thinking of the worst advice ever given to aspiring authors. Where on earth would you start with a piece like that, I wondered. And then I started thinking … So here goes. My favourite bits of dreadful advice. 1. You … Continue reading
writerlywitterings 
Editors are Good!
Posted by writerlywitterer on 23/09/2013 · 9 Comments
I am just getting the editor’s comments back on my latest manuscript. Hmm. I value editors – the work they do is absolutely essential. They can radically improve a piece of work with what can seem like tiny changes. Still, those tiny alterations can be incredibly difficult to get across to the author sometimes. The … Continue reading →
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