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Does your middle sag?
I don’t mean your waist line that might be suffering from that late night snack attack. I mean that author’s graveyard – the middle of your story when enthusiasm wains and your characters wonder what...
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What makes a good story ending?
Having covered story beginnings and middles in previous blogs, it seems only natural to cover story endings. Whether a story ending is right or not can ultimately only be judged by the reader. If the...
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Plot and character – the chemistry
So what type of stories do you write: character-driven or action-driven? When thinking about your story ideas, do you start by imagining an interesting character, or do you start with some interesting...
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Making the main character likeable
All great books and movies seem to have a great lead character that the reader or audience can identify with and root for. How do authors and screenwriters do it? Think about the books and movies you...
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Bad guys aren’t necessarily all bad
Unless you’re dealing with satanic supernatural characters, an easy mistake for new authors to make is to assume that the antagonist has to be the epitome of all evil. In practice, the bad guy may well...
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Cutting out the boring bits
One of the mistakes a newbie writer can make is to assume that a story is an unbroken series of actions all of which have to be conveyed to the reader. Instead, the writer should try to think more...
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There’s no such thing as writer’s block
That’s what I thought until a young writer contacted me recently asking for ideas of how to get around writer’s block. She had had some success as a writer and was finding it hard to get started...
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What makes a great writer
Have you read a book you simply couldn’t put down? Have you ever thought about how the writer did that — kept you engrossed in the story? In contrast, have you ever read a book where you’ve found...
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That Eureka Moment
This morning I had one. Yes — a eureka moment. When was your last eureka moment? I mean, an idea that pops into your head about your story line: a twist or turn that just seems right for your story....
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Dialogue – the seven rules
I’ve been writing for most of my life. It was hard not to. It was part of my job as an accountant to write reports, letters and other forms of communication. So learning to write fiction shouldn’t have...
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The Darkest Moment
Stories are all about conflict and transformation. If the main character in your story can achieve all of his/her desires without any struggle at all, then it wouldn’t be much of a story. It is...
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First Draft
Typing those magic words, ‘The End’, can be a satisfying moment for any first time writer. If you have got that far in your writing, then congratulations. You’ve made it further than most aspiring...
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Unbelievable Endings
Movies and novels are two very different mediums of story telling. Some great novels don’t necessarily translate into great movies. And some great movies would not necessarily make a great novels. But...
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Pacing and escalating tension
A few weeks ago, I went to see Star Wars The Force Awakens. What a movie! Of course, with all the hype about the movie there was always a risk that it wouldn’t live up to fans expectation, or that it...
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Story boarding
In my previous blog, I put forward the view that a writer should know his/her story before he/she starts writing. Once a writer has a story concept, a character with a goal, a source of conflict, and...
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Story Design – Twenty Key Questions
As a new writer one of the most difficult decisions to make is about what to write about. There is plenty of advice from experienced writers out there who say just sit in the chair and write. And that...
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Story Design — Characterisation
Some very successful writers claim to produce stories without any apparent planning or preparation. Story design must be built into their DNA. Others, which I suggest is the vast majority of writers...
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Connecting your story’s hero/heroine
Have you ever read a story or watched a movie that brought a lump to your throat and tears to your eyes? Yes, of course you have. Good stories create an emotional experience for their readers or...
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Killing one’s darlings
If you’ve just finished your first draft of your novel, congratulations. Pour yourself a drink of your favourite tipple and celebrate. You’re half-way to completing your project. Yes — I did say half...
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Story pacing
One of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. For those that haven’t seen this 1982 neo-noir movie, it’s set in a 2019 dystopian world where synthetic humans known as...
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